How to kill fear
by Saffamoe01
Summary: What if Sandy never stopped Pitch's scythe before it came down on Jack. What if Jack died? - When Jack's fate is decided for him, The Man in The Moon gives him a second chance. A chance to get his life back. Trapped in a world made by his subconscious, spirit weakened and with only one of Manny's helpers to guide him through his journey to resurrection, will he survive?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one: A belated warning

A/N: Hi, I'm new to Fanfiction and this is my first fic, so be nice, any feedback is appreciated. Constructive criticism, just a one word review, anything is awesome. Thanks!

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"It's over, Pitch. There's no place to hide." Jack said, holding his staff up to deliver the final blow. Pitch looked scared before realisation dawned on his ashen features. Malicious laughter soon followed, before Pitch faded into the shadows.

Jack gasped and whirled around. He searched the street for a sign of the nightmare king, but he only saw cars and houses. He looked at his fellow guardians for confirmation. Bunnymund was searching frantically around, but his ears twitched as if he could hear something behind Jack. Bunny's reflexes kicked in and he grabbed a boomerang before turning to face a newly materialised Pitch. The Easter spirit saw Pitch's scythe materialize in his hands. He saw the weapon raise and knew Jack would take the blow. Jack, however, was faced the other way, completely oblivious.

"Jack look out!" Bunny yelled in vain, before throwing his boomerang at the scythe to knock it off its course. The wooden projectile simply ricocheted off the weapon and came back to him. He absentmindedly caught it, but his attention was on Jack.

The scythe came down and Jack finally turned, his azure eyes widening in fear as he saw what was about to happen.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Tooth's breath caught in her throat. She tried to scream out, but her chest constricted in fear.

Jack tried to move, but he was frozen in fear. His gaze locked with Pitch's golden eyes for a second, before all he saw was the glint of the blade as it pierced his shoulder. He cried out in pain and collapsed onto his knees. Pitch smirked, then put more force into the attack, passing the blade through Jack completely.

Tooth shielded her eyes from what she was sure would be a gruesome death, but before she could, a bright blue light attracted her attention. She saw Jack look up at the sky, the scythe still lodged in his midsection, but there was no blood. He was emitting a calm blue glow. It stayed like that for a couple of seconds, before he fell to the ground.

Tooth watched Jack collapse in disbelief, before turning back to Pitch. A wide grin almost split his face. Tooth heard an earsplitting battle cry, she turned and saw Bunny running towards Pitch.

The easter bunny sent his boomerangs straight at the nightmare king, but he dodged them easily.

"Oh no, have I made you angry?" Pitch laughed as he stepped back to avoid an egg bomb.

Bunny didn't reply, but grit his teeth. He pushed the injured winter spirit to the back of his mind. If he wanted to defeat Pitch, he couldn't let his emotions cloud his judgement. His face became emotionless and he concentrated solely on each attack to Pitch.

Tooth finally realised what had happened. Jack was nearly dead. And it was Pitches fault. She felt a burning anger for him, but Jack's fragile state hung over her like a dark cloud. She couldn't bring herself to fight. She looked over at Jack and a sob shook her shoulders. She collapsed onto her hands and knees and continued to cry. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. North stood next to her, gazing sadly at the ground next to Pitch. Jack's staff lay on the asphalt next to Pitch's foot. Tooth knew she had to bring it to Jack. After all, it was his only possession.

Pitch yelled in pain as one of Bunny's boomerangs hit him in the side. It was followed by an egg bomb which blew up in his face.

The kids were running around turning his precious nightmares into dreams. He had to strategically retreat to conserve his strength. He wasn't going to beat Bunnymund, not while his nightmares were weakening by the minute. No, he needed to take what was left and go.

Spend a couple of days restoring his strength and let the guardians fall into despair. Pitch gave Bunny an annoyed look before whistling for his nightmares to retreat.

Don't fret. I'll be back to finish you off soon enough." Pitch said, then took a step back and fell into the shadows.

As soon as Pitch left, Tooth ran over to Jack, scooping up his staff on the way. Tooth kneeled next to him and brushed his hair out of his face. His brow was scrunched up in pain and his hand gripped his stomach where the scythe had sliced. Tooth removed his hand gently and peeled back his torn sweatshirt. She did not expect the wound to be as it was. Instead of an open wound, a slash of jet black went from his shoulder to his abdomen. It seemed to be black sand under his skin. Tooth was repulsed and covered it back up.

"Jack? You need to open your eyes." Tooth requested softly.

Jack groaned, but complied. His eyes were unfocused and glazed over. Tooth put his head on her lap and stroked his hair rhythmically.

"Tooth? I'm sorry... I let Pitch get away." Jack croaked. "It's my fault."

Tooth shushed him and tears formed in her eyes.

"It's not your fault. Nothing is your fault, Jack. Never think that." Tooth stopped as the tears poured over and dropped onto Jack's cheek, where they froze. Jack suddenly tensed and cried out as the nightmare sand started to spread through his blood stream.

"It's okay." Tooth comforted. "It's okay. Your going to be all right, every things fine."

Jack's breath caught as Tooth said what he had said to his sister decades ago when he had saved her. Now it was him that was being comforted. That was when he realized it really wouldn't be fine...

He was going to die.

And yet, he didn't feel sad that he was dying. He had no regrets, because in these short days, he'd learnt more about himself than he had in his whole lifetime. He knew his purpose, And now he could finally see his sister again.

'Tooth.I-I'm gonna die, aren't I." Jack said suddenly.

"Your going to be fine." Tooth replied, more tears spilling over her lashes.

Bunnymund and North had gone to get the kids to make sure they didn't get hurt by the nightmares. When Jamie got to where Jack was, he rushed over and kneeled with Tooth. The rest of the kids stayed back and hung their heads. North and Bunny came and stood on either side of Tooth. Bunny looked at Jack. He was gazing up at him with faded blue eyes. His irises were slowly fading to grey as his life force diminished.

"Mate, I'm so sorry."

Jack nodded slowly, before turning to Jamie. "You stay with them Jamie. Th-they will defeat Pitch. P-please. Just be safe..." Jack said, before closing his eyes. He frowned in discomfort. "Tooth, I'm cold"

"W-what?" Tooth choked out in disbelief. Jack was never cold!

"Tooth, I'm so c-cold. It's so dark." Jack opened his eyes again, but his irises were completely grey."I can't see. It's dark. Where is everyone. Bunny?" Tooth continued to run her hands through his hair and hum quietly to him.

Bunny sat next to Jack and put a paw on his shoulder. "It's alright mate. I'm right here."

"I'm sorry Bunny. I ruined Easter again. At least this way I'll be out of your hair forever."

Bunny was shocked. He had no idea Jack thought like that. "Listen, mate. I don't want you to go. You can ruin every Easter for all I care, just stay with us, will ya?"

Jack shook his head. "Tooth, will you all still remember me after I die?"

"Yes, of course. Why?" Tooth asked, feathery hands brushing over Jack's forehead.

"Because I'm dead." The winter spirit's body glowed an eerie white before it dispersed into a flurry of shining blue snowflakes that took off and floated out of Tooth's arms and towards the moon. She watched the snowflakes until they disappeared into the night sky. She looked down at where Jack had been and saw no trace that he had ever been there in the first place.

"Jack? Jack!" Tooth yelled at the space where Jack had died.

"Tooth, he's gone." Bunny said, carefully placing a paw on her shoulder.

"No. No he can't be. Jack can't be..."

"Tooth, I know you're upset, so am I, but you've gotta be strong. For Jack, at least. He wouldn't want us to be moping around over him. The only thing we can do is carry out his last request. We need to protect Jamie, and that means getting rid of Pitch." Bunny said quietly. "Permanently." He added darkly.

Determination set in Tooth's amethyst eyes, before she stood alongside Bunny and squared her shoulders. "Let's find Pitch." She said, her voice hard.

"Tooth, we need to go back to the pole first." North said, his brow creasing with concern.

"Why?" Tooth asked sharply.

North gave Tooth a sad look and grabbed a globe from his pocket. "Jack's funeral." He replied quietly, before throwing the globe at the ground and opening a portal.

* * *

"Jack, you've been resting for far too long. It's time for you to get up." A voice said suddenly, dragging Jack out of his slumber. He groaned. It felt like someone had hit him over the head with a hammer, then punched him in the gut. His muscles hurt so much, he couldn't move his toes.

He felt someone touch his arms gently and put a hand on his back to help him up. Once he got to a seated position, someone stuffed a pillow underneath him and laid him carefully back down.

He opened his eyes slowly and waited till the black dots in his vision cleared. A girl sat across from him on a wooden stool. She had long blonde curly hair and bright yellow eyes. Her skin was chalk white, but seemed to emit a dim white glow. Jack thought it must just be his eyes playing tricks on him. She wore a long yellow summer dress and had no shoes, though she had a tattoo of the crescent moon on her ankle.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Jack asked, trying to get up but failing and slumping back on the pillow.

"I am Luna, and you are dead." Luna said happily with a clear and articulate voice, spreading her arms in welcome. She was distinctively English.

"I'm dead. Then Pitch must've... But why am I still here?" Jack asked.

Luna smiled. "Here? The place in which you now reside is your own subconscious. Of course, your body is dead, but your spirit still lives on. I'm afraid it took a fatal blow when you got slashed with Pitch's scythe. That is why you feel pain, even though you are just a manifestation of your spirit. Your actual spirit was damaged severely, but I can fix that easily. If your spirit is completely restored, you can return to life." Luna pointed to Jack's chest.

Jack strained his neck and looked down, seeing that his chest had been bandaged up. He also made note that he wasn't wearing a shirt. "So, if you bandage me up, I'll come back to life?"

"Not exactly... I can patch you up so that you can move and the pain isn't too bad, but too truly be resurrected, you'll have to defeat the fears that are corrupting your inner world. These are the things that run amok now that nightmare sand runs along with your blood. These are the things responsible for your spirit's fragile state." Luna said apologetically, before helping him round so that his feet touched the floor.

Jack winced, but the pain was definitely more bearable than it had been when he'd first woken up. He struggled to his feet and cringed when he stepped forward. Pain shot through his stomach every step he took. Luna noticed his pain and frowned. She put a hand on his abdomen. "Here, this should help for the pain." A pale yellow glow pulsed from her finger tips and sunk into Jack's stomach. He felt the pain slowly ebb away, along with the glow.

"Thanks, whatever that was." Jack said uncertainly. "So...can I get a shirt or something? I kinda feel a bit exposed."

Luna nodded and went over to a cupboard in the corner of the room. It wasn't a very large space, just simply four walls and a ceiling. There was very little furnishing, bar the stool, the bed on which Jack had rested and the cupboard. A small mirror hung on a nail above the stool and there was one window, but the shutters had been pulled to, so there was very little light.

Luna came back with a white shirt and helped him into it, being carful how she pulled his arms. She buttoned it up to his neck and smiled. "You look very handsome." She casually remarked, earning a blush from Jack. He shook his head and went to open the shutters.

He couldn't believe what was happening. First, he had died and now he was in some sort of dreaming state that his subconscious had created to protect what was left of his spirit. It didn't make sense, but he found himself grudgingly accepting all of this.

But at least he had an ally in all of this. Hopefully...

Jack threw open the shutters and saw a forest outside the window. But it wasn't any old forest. It was covered in flowers and hummingbirds floated erratically around fruit trees. The trees bore colorful fruits of which Jack had never seen before. A stream with crystal clear waters wound its way around the small cottage and Jack spotted koi swimming just below the surface.

"This place is beautiful." Jack breathed, his curiosity getting the better of him as he opened the window as well. The smell of the forest hit him like a freight train. He smelt the gentle fragrance of lilies, and the pungent scent of passion fruit, among others he couldn't quite place.

"It is, isn't it? It's a shame this is all a guise. This 'wonderland' is actually corrupted and unjust. I do apologize for being so blunt, but it's the truth and it's better you learn it sooner rather than later." Luna said absently. "Come. We must find the source of this corruption."

"And if we don't?"

"You will die."

"Let's get going then." Jack said, determination clear in his voice.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two: Rise above fear

**Hi again! So, here's another chapter of How to kill fear, as before, any reviews are appreciated! Also, I'm a bit stuck for chapter three, so ideas/ inspiration would also be good. Thanks! Enjoy!**

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The guardians stood around the lake in which Jack had been reborn. North set three candles down on the lakes bank. A candle to represent each century the spirit had been alive. It was strange to see that the lake was no longer frozen. When Jack was around, the lake was permanently frozen over.

"Jack was a great, energetic person. He was always fun to be around and even if he did make mistakes, you could never stay made at him. I'm gonna miss the ankle biter." Bunny said in his thick Aussie accent.

Tooth nodded and laid a single white snowdrop flower on the bank. She let the tears roll down her cheeks and looked to the moon. "How could you do this?" She asked it in desperation.

North frowned. He'd always been the man in the moon's friend, but now he was beginning to question even that. Why would the Manny let Jack die when he was completely capable of saving him? North turned away from the lake and sighed. Now was definitely not the time to question alliances. They needed all the help they could get.

After all, defeating Pitch was hard before and now, without Jack it would be nigh on impossible.

The guardians hadn't seen Pitch in twenty four hours, but that didn't mean they were safe. Pitch was just building up his forces before the final battle. The guardians had tried to do the same, but they were too busy mourning Jack. They couldn't bring themselves to fight.

Bunny was the most levelheaded of the three remaining guardians and he was the one that suggested they went back to the pole and figure out a way find Pitch. The rest of them simply followed Bunny's lead, squared their shoulders and tried to get back to normal.

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Jack and Luna had left the little cottage behind and had decided to find a sign of civilisation As it turned out, Luna knew as little about this land as Jack did. All she knew was that it was created by Jack's subconscious to keep what was left of his spirit alive, before he was taken on to the afterlife.

She also knew that there was a slim chance that Jack could be resurrected but since this had never happened before, she didn't know what to expect.

Jack had found out that Luna was also a part of his subconscious who was made to aid him in his journey to find Pitch.

So far, Jack had learned that this apparent paradise was anything but the sort, and the people who lived there weren't friendly. At all. He had found a house that seemed familiar in some way. Cold nostalgia washed over him when he looked at it. But he couldn't remember why it was so familiar, or why he knew something bad happened there.

He let curiosity get the better of him before Luna could even warn him.

The house was relatively small and had just two windows. It looked very old and everything from the wooden walls to the roof was in monochrome. Every step Jack took towards the place, color seemed to seep back into it, like a sponge absorbing water. When he reached the door, he put a hand on it.

All of a sudden, his vision went black before the door reappeared, accept it was much less weathered and old.

He couldn't control his movements as he turned back towards where Luna was standing. Luna seemed frozen, but now she was in monochrome. Jack opened his mouth to call out to her, but he heard a voice behind him.

"Be careful." The voice said, with a hint of humor to it.

Jack found himself turning back to the door and looking towards the house. He saw a woman with brown hair and brown eyes staring at him with a friendly expression on her pale face. His lips moved without him commanding for them to do so and he said with a chuckle; "We will!"

He felt someone grip at his hand and he looked down. A young girl was looking up at him with wide eyes and a smile.

"Pippa?" Jack tried to say, but his lips wouldn't move. It was as if someone else was in control of his body. But he knew this girl. He knew her from the past and from his most dominant memories that he had seen thanks to Tooth's memory boxes.

He worked out that even though he couldn't see her when Jack looked back at his memories, the woman in the doorway must have been his mother. Jack felt himself turn around again and this time he saw the lake. The lake in which he died.

He saw a couple of Pitch's nightmares snuffling around the banks of the lake as if they were looking for something. They looked straight at him with their golden eyes, before they both melted into the lake. The surface of the ice swirled and writhed with nightmare sand, and it seeped into the cracks and crevices in the ice.

Still, Pippa dragged him along to the lake and seemed completely unfazed by th sand. Of course, Jack tried to warn her, but he still couldn't even move himself, let along talk.

Once they got onto the lake and secured their skates, the nightmare sand expanded in the cracks and pushed against the ice until it started to break. Jack's ears were met with the awful sound of ice breaking, followed by Pippa's scream.

Jack finally regained control over his body and turned to see what had happened. Pippa had the nightmare sand curling around her body and dragging her down.

Jack tried to run to her aid, but the ice finally cracked and she was dragged down into the dark waters, screaming in absolute terror as she went under.

Then it went quiet. Jack tried to jump into the water to save her. He knew this wasn't how it was meant to happen. He knew Pippa didn't die. He felt something snag around his leg.

Jack looked down and cried out when nightmare sand wrapped around his ankle and tripped him up. He hit what remained of the ice with a thud, banging his head pretty hard. His vision went dark and his ears rung, but before he could regain his senses, he was dragged towards the opening in the ice.

Jack yelled in fear when he saw what was going to happen. He reached the water and got dragged under the cold ice along with his sister. His body jolted as he went under and he grabbed around trying to find something to get himself out with. He began to lose sight of the opening as he sank lower and lower into the water.

He couldn't see and his lungs constricted from holding in what little air he had managed to take in. He breathed out, before he began to panic since there was no way to get oxygen into his lungs. Over all of this, he was terrified. He still felt the sand around his ankle, dragging him deeper into the water.

Suddenly, everything stopped hurting and he felt weightless for a second. His eyes slid shut, though he didn't realize he had them open in the first place. He let go of the remaining oxygen in his lungs until they felt deflated. Panic came back to him, and without thinking, he drew in a lungful of water. He choked, but only took in more water.

Jack started to lose consciousness. He felt completely numb, though he wasn't sure if it was because of the abrupt lack of oxygen, or the extreme cold. He faintly felt sad for some reason, though he couldn't remember what had just happened. He finally lost any awareness that remained.

Luna couldn't move while she watched Jack relive his memory, before it was corrupted by Pitch's nightmares. She was frozen in place as he was dragged under the water. She felt the cold water fill her lungs as if she was drowning too, but she knew it was because she was too close to Jack's memory. She was being dragged into it too. Which meant theoretically if Jack wanted saving, she could interfere with his memory.

She took a tentative step towards the lake and found she could freely move. Luna ran over to where Jack was pulled in and kneeled on the ice. She couldn't see him.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on stopping the memory so she could pull Jack out of it. There was a bright flash of light that washed over the memory. The nightmare sand stopped moving, the ice over the lake melted and the house turned monochrome again, the woman in the doorway simultaneously disappeared.

She reached into the now blue and welcoming water and pulled Jack out by the collar of his shirt. Luna dragged him out until he was on the bank.

At first, nothing happened. Jack just laid on his back and gazed unseeingly at Luna. Suddenly, he gasped like a fish out of water and leaned on his elbow, coughing up water. "Wh-what was that!?" Jack managed to splutter.

Luna smiled weakly. "I tried to warn you, but you went too far ahead of me. I do not think you heard me, but I said; 'If you go any closer, you'll get pulled in.' What you just experienced was one of your memories, before it was corrupted by Pitch's nightmares. But they must've been attracted by something. Are you afraid?"

"No!" Jack exclaimed suddenly.

"They can smell it on you, even if you do not realize it yourself. You must have some deep buried fears. This will not do at all. You have no hope of defeating the corruption in this world if you have self doubt." Luna put her pale hand on Jack's shoulder and frowned.

"You never told me any of this before." Jack shrugged Luna's hand off and scowled at her. "And how come you could stop me from drowning all of a sudden. Why didn't you stop it before?"

"I could only have saved you if you wanted saving. Before that, you were too shocked by the notion of reliving one of your memories to even think about it. All I did was stop the memory by creating a temporary mental connection with you so I could see the memory. I then used a simple blast of energy to disperse the nightmare sand."

Jack looked betrayed. "I thought you said you only knew as much as I did. How did you know to use all that stuff?"

Luna looked ashamed, but she also had hurt in her bright yellow eyes. She had just saved Jack's life and all he could do was question her.

"The man in the moon sent me." She said. "I'm not a part of your subconscious at all. I was sent to protect you and keep you from dying while in this dreaming state. I'm afraid you are just not strong enough to protect yourself yet, and the man in the moon wanted to give you a fighting chance. After all, you haven't even been deemed a guardian yet, have you?"

"It doesn't matter if i'm a guardian or not!" Jack yelled, now angry and feeling slightly betrayed by Manny. "I could take care of myself before and I can do it now. I lived alone for over three hundred years. Do you have any idea what that feels like? I'm stronger than you think and I don't need the man in the moon to protect me."

"But i'm just trying to help you until you can help yourself!" Luna exclaimed, at loss with the way Jack was acting.

"No, Luna. I want to do this on my own. I always have." Jack said bitterly, turning away from her. "Oh, and if you see old Manny any time soon, ask him why he didn't just let me die. If I need protecting, I'm obviously no use to him. He already has the strong and battle hardy guardians. Why would he need another one anyway? Why would he chose me, when all I did was save my sister. There were hundreds of people who drowned in that lake ever since that day. I had the opportunity to save them all, but I didn't, because I was too scared to go near that lake again." He paused and looked at Luna with an unreadable expression. "Your right, Luna. I guess I'll never go home with the amount of fears I have. I'm a lost cause. Why don't you just leave me alone and go back to the man in the moon or something?"

Jack turned and stormed off into the darkness of the forest behind the house.

Luna looked shocked from Jack's sudden outburst and started to walk after him when he turned and ran away. Now she was worried. If Jack got lost, he'd never find his way back to her...Or worse, he could get attacked by nightmares again.

She loved Jack. She couldn't help it. When the man in the moon created her, she was made with built in love for Jack so that she would protect him with her own life. From the moment the man in the moon gave her the task of protecting him, she swore she wouldn't let him get hurt. But now the very person who swore to protect him had hurt him. She had not helped. She had hindered.

She knew Jack needed her, though. If she wasn't there, regardless of whether he hated her or not, he would inevitably die. Luna did not want that to happen at all.

Luna looked up at the sky and her heart sunk when she could not see the moon. Manny would know what to do, but she was in Jack's subconscious. There was no moon there, just a reflection of one. Still, tearing her eyes from the sky, Luna carried on with her search for Jack. She had to persuade him to forgive her.

There was no way he could survive otherwise.

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**Okay, I would like to say a big thanks to; **

**celebi2gen and jakefan for the reveiws. Cheers!**

**And also;**

**Lucretia 1, Luzydeath, Lilythewolf23, sugarart and darkryubaby for the favs/ follows! **

**All of you can have a cookie that I don't have :)**

**Saff x **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three: The truth about Jack.

**Welcome to another instalment of How to kill fear. Sorry for all the line breaks in this one, it does change scenes quite a bit. Anyhoo, enjoy the chapter and review, follow, favourite please! Please tell me what you think about Luna, like, hate, don't mind? Any improvements I could make, drop a review and let me know. Thanks! **

* * *

Jack wandered through a marsh like terrain. He had stopped feeling outraged a while ago. Heck, he had stopped feeling slightly irritated a while ago. Now he was just lost. Really lost.

Still, Jack was stubborn. He knew he didn't need one of Manny's minions telling him how to get out of this place. But for the first time since he'd arrived here, he realised he didn't have his prized possession.

His staff.

Jack felt completely at loss without his staff. He was grounded, couldn't fly, couldn't use his powers. He felt trapped. It was like being human again.

He looked around at his surrounding, searching desperately for some sort of landmark, something familiar so he could get some idea of where he was. No such luck.

There was, however, a looming building in the distance. It just so happened to be the only thing that stuck out in the landscape, being as though everywhere else he looked was flat marshland, accompanied by a couple of dead looking trees.

The building looked more like a palace. It's walls reached high into the clouds, blocking out the sunlight. Jack could only just tell it was green in color and seemed to be infinite. As in, it spread across the whole horizon and went on for as far as the eye could see.

Jack decided to head in that direction. What's the worst that could happen, after all, he was already dead.

Suddenly, a loud tremor shook the ground, making Jack snap his gaze up to the palace. One of the walls had started to crumble.

If he squinted, he could've sworn he saw black figures swarming around the wall. It was so far away, he couldn't really be sure.

* * *

"Is Pitch again." North said gravely, staring up at the globe and it's diminishing lights.

Tooth's gaze was vague and seemed elsewhere. She was, of course, thinking about Jack. He'd been dead-No! She refused to believe he was dead. He'd been gone for two days now, and it was already taking it's toll on the remaining guardians. Sandy was still...gone. And now Jack too. It was too much.

Bunny had resorted to acting like an emotionless warrior, in other words, he was acting like a complete jerk. It was all 'shoot to kill' with him now and that had never been the way the guardians had handled things.

"What's Pitch done now?" Bunny asked, not quite wanting to hear the answer.

North turned to them, eyes wide with disbelief. "Pitch is coming here." He said, jabbing a finger at the floor to drive the point home.

"Here? As in, here, at the Pole?" Bunny managed, paws hovering over his boomerangs as if he expected Pitch to suddenly appear.

"Yes here. About thirty miles away. Not much time, we must put up some defenses. If he destroys toys, christmas will be ruined."

"We can't afford to lose any more believers!" Bunny yelled. "We're hardly strong enough to beat Pitch now, I'm sorry mate, but you made a mistake. If Pitch gets the toys, _we're _ruined."

"Then let's set up defences." Tooth interjected suddenly, wings absently fluttering in a futile attempt to fly.

* * *

A couple of hours later, the guardians had set the pole in lockdown. No one gets in, no one gets out. Slightly off-putting, but better to be safe than sorry.

It was Bunny who noticed the first trail of nightmare sand weaving it's way through the gaps and crevices in the old building. He pointed to it and the others instantly drew their weapons.

The nightmare sand scattered across the floor, until it got to the centre of the room and started to gather around one point, swirling and writhing like a pit of ugly, black snakes.

It built up so that the cozy wooden floor was not longer visible, and it curled upwards, forming a figure. The figure solidified and Pitch's features became defined-unfortunately.

He laughed and spun on the spot to take in the sight of the workshop. He'd been here before, but now that he was this powerful, he could easily decimate the whole thing. And that was exactly what he had planned.

He felt his nightmares materialise behind him and felt oddly reassured. He was sure the guardians had been expecting him. Then where were they?

"If you pathetic excuse for protectors are here, I hope you know the Pole is in awful shape." He paused. He almost expected an outraged Jack Frost to pounce on him. _Oh, that's right. He's dead. _Pitch laughed again. His plans were going so well! "I hope you don't mind if I clear up a bit, hmm?"

Pitch spread his arms and called his nightmares forth. They gathered behind him, whinnying impatiently, desperate to taste the fears of the guardians.

"Not coming out, then? Well, I guess we'll just have to make you."

The nightmares surged forward, forcing Bunny and the others from their hiding spot. The first nightmare came at him, but Bunnymund blocked with the back of his boomerang, throwing his weight into the horse shaped sand.

It skittered backwards, and neighing indignantly, it attacked once more.

Bunny threw his weapon, which slashed right through the mare. Many more nightmares came after that, and each one Bunny pushed back and defeated. Bunny's movements became systematic and soon he started to feel the fatigue set in. He started to miss his openings and get beaten back by the nightmares.

"Guys, I don't think I can hold 'em anymore!" Bunny ground out, straining to hold back a nightmare that was trying to bite his arm.

North and Tooth weren't fairing much better than Bunny. In fact, Tooth was about ready to give up. "Hang in there Bunny, I think nightmares are giving up."

"Really?" Bunny asked hopefully.

"No, is getting worse. But hang in there anyway. I'm sure we'll be fine." North said, trying in vain to sound slightly optimistic.

Pitch appeared out of the mass of nightmares, chuckling rather childishly. He rubbed his ashen hands together, a smile adorning his malicious features. "Are you ready to give up?"

"We'll never give up, ya bastard!" Bunny bit back, sparing a glance at where Pitch was.

He sunk into the shadows again. Bunny was on high alert, looking around for where the nightmare king could pop up next.

"Show yourself, coward. I ain't scared of ya!" He said, spinning around slowly to try to catch Pitch, but there was no sign of him.

Bunny cast a glare at North and Tooth, but they shook their heads. They hadn't seen Pitch either. He heard a gasp and turned, only to come face to face with Pitch.

Pitch brought down the scythe he had just summoned. Bunny held his hands over his head to try to protect his vitals. He heard his heat beat unhealthily fast in his chest and a cry tore itself from his throat. So much for emotionless warrior. The pooka was scared, and that was no secret.

Suddenly, a bright flash of yellow light lighted up the room and when it faded, it revealed a small girl with cascading honey-blonde hair.

Bunny thought he must have been dreaming, because he could've sworn the girl was glowing.

* * *

Jack rapped a knuckle on the palace gate three times, satisfied when he heard footsteps on the other side. He'd decided to go to the giant palace he had found. It was the only place he _could _go.

"Hello? Who goes there?" A voice sounded behind the gate.

Jack was stumped by this question. Would they let him in if he told them his name? "Um. Jack?" He said uncertainly.

"Jack! We've been expecting you!" The voice replied excitedly. A small door embedded in the wall next to the gate swung open.

"Can I come in?" Jack asked, looking around for a source to the voice.

A young girl sidestepped out of the door, shifting from foot to foot nervously. "Yes. Please come straight in." The girl twirled a strand of ginger hair around her finger and beckoned to the door with her other hand. She then turned and skipped back into the castle.

_Okay, that was weird. _Jack thought to himself. A kid gatekeeping. Who knew? Nevertheless, Jack followed the ginger gatekeeper through the door, ducking his head to actually fit through.

He came out into a grand entrance hall, leading out into an open top plaza. The hall was basked in a beautiful amber glow, due to the stained glass windows with designs portraying angels in different scenes.

The first showed a boy with a halo raising his hands to the sun above him. He had blue and white wings that spread out behind him.

The next scene showed the same angel, but he was facing the other way, and his wings were folded behind him as if he was upset. There appearing to be a storm above him.

The last panel showed the angel with his wings around four other angels. One was completely gold, another had a fantastic plume of emerald and sapphire feathers. The angel next to that was wearing a bright red cloak and had a long white beard and next to him was something that appeared to be a kangaroo with wings.

Wait. A kangaroo with wings? "Bunny?" Jack asked the stained glass, placing a hand on the angels foot. He cast his gaze around the rest of the scene. "Sandy, Tooth and North? What is this?"

"These panels document the legends of this land." The girl said peppily, her eyes looking from the stained glass to Jack. "You actually resemble the angel in the glass. Could you be...are you Jack?"

"Yes! I've already told you my name!" Jack exclaimed.

"But are you the real Jack?"

"Um. I think so..." He looked at how determined the Jack in the stained glass was, then looked at himself in the glass. He saw a disheveled boy gazing back at him, with grey eyes and dark circles under them. He didn't look much like the Jack in the glass.

"The only person who will know if your the real Jack is the king." She stated bluntly.

"Can you bring me to him?" Jack asked, stepping away from the window.

"Follow me." The girl said, twirling around and skipping down a long corridor decorated by tapestries that covered the whole wall on one side.

He jogged after her, wincing when he felt pain shoot through his side. Seems like Luna's pain relief spell had only been temporary. Damn.

Jack reached a door, which the girl opened out into a hall that made the entrance hall look minuscule. Grand arches that housed beautifully crafted windows reached up to the ceiling. At the back of the hall, a magnificent golden throne sat on a slightly raised platform. And in the throne sat...

"Jamie!?" Jack croaked, stepping back in surprise.

* * *

"Who the 'ell are you?" Bunny demanded the blonde haired girl who had just banished Pitch and his nightmares from the pole. Bunny squinted around for a trace of the black sand. There wasn't a grain in sight.

"I am Luna. I was sent by the man in the moon." Luna said, gasping at how rudely Bunny had worded his question.

"Well, how come we ain't never heard of ya before?" He parried.

Luna closed her yellow eyes and shook her head. This man was shameful. "I just saved you. Does it matter why you've never heard of me?"

"Yes! You are still invading on North's property! We don't have to give ya a hint a kindness if we don't want to."

"Listen here, rabbit." Luna bit back, her eyes glowing a dangerous yellow. "I suggest you watch what you say to me, since I'm the only one who holds any sway over what happens to Jack. If you are not going to be grateful, then I might just leave him to die." She was bluffing, of course, but she didn't appreciate the way this oversized fur ball was treating her.

"Jack? But he's dead." North said, his voice wavering noticeably.

"Nay, his spirit lives on. I have been into his subconscious and I can assure you his spirit is hanging on." She leaned in, as if the next thing she was going to say was a secret, like a school girl playing Chinese whispers. "But only by a thread. He doesn't have much time left. If he doesn't defeat his fears, the nightmare sand that courses through his veins will make his condition progressively worse. He will eventually die, fade away, cease to exist. That is why I am sent into his subconscious. To guide him until he can stand on his own."

"W-will he ever...come back?" Tooth asked haltingly.

"I can't guarantee he will." When Luna heard Tooth start to sob, she added quickly; "He has an impeccably strong spirit. I am sure he will pull through."

"T-thank you. Will you go and help him now?" Tooth asked through her tears.

Luna nodded. "I will find him, though we have had a falling out, of sorts."

"Why?"

"He didn't want my help." Luna said dejectedly.

Tooth laughed softly. "That sounds a lot like him."

* * *

**Okay, thanks to;**

**Lilythewolf23, Celebi2gen, H. 8812 for the reviews, especially Celebi2gen, who gave me an awesome idea that I hope I sort of incorporated into this chapter. **

**And also; **

**Pure Aqua, Dragon10, H. 8812 (again) for the favs/ follows. Thank you very muchly. **

**I hope this chapter is okay, but I wont be updating until monday at least because I'm going camping over the weekend, sorry! Have another (fake) cookie as consolation.**

**Saff x**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four: The palace of lights

**Hi again! Heres another chapter of How to kill fear. Thank you for all being patient and maybe if I get some reviews tonight, I'll try to get a chapter out by tomorrow! Wow, twelve reviews, I can't even tell you how much that makes my day :) Keep reviewing and tell me what I could improve. Thanks and enjoy! **

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"Jamie?" Jack croaked.

The brown haired boy rose from his seated position, a gap-toothed grin reached his eyes as he watched Jack approach. "Hello, Jack. I've been awaiting your arrival for some time now."

Jack looked around. The boy was flanked by many people Jack knew. He spotted Cupcake, Claude, Pippa and Caleb, and others he had met.

"How did you...why are you here?"

"I am King Jamie, I rule over this part of the subconscious. Unfortunately, it's taken a bit of a beating from the nightmares so it's not what it used to be. Welcome to the palace of lights." Jamie walked over to Jack, putting a hand on his shoulder, although he had to stand on his toes. "Can we talk in my office?"

Jack nodded numbly and let himself be lead into a room to the left of 'King Jamie's' throne. The room had a long desk that had been pushed up against the wall, other than that, the room was pretty bare, bar the countless portraits that covered the walls.

The small space was lit by a huge jar that sat on the desk, containing what looked like a mass of fireflies. Jack tapped a finger against it, and the lights flew and stuck to the side of the glass he was touching. "What are these things?" He asked, tapping the glass again.

Jamie, who had sat down on the desk chair, crossed his arms and sighed. "Those lights represent your believers. That's what the nightmares were here for. They want to destroy belief in you so you'll be weakened."

"Oh." Jack managed to say, and hastily removed his finger and stepped away from the glass.

"That is also the reason why I've called you here."

"But I didn't-"

"I called you here so you could protect us. The believers. We cannot protect ourselves, only you may stop the nightmares." Jamie stated, picking up the jar and walking over to the wall. "They are on their way back here with a plan, and there is nothing to stop them from destroying what I hold in this jar." He placed his free hand on the wall and pushed. A panel of wood sunk into the wall and clicked into place. Jamie smiled in satisfaction as the panel slide aside to reveal a set of stairs that went underground.

"Lemme guess. You've got a plan." Jack sighed, gazing down at Jamie.

"Yes. I will hide down here with the belief, and you will hold off the nightmares."

"Great. So you don't have a plan."

Jamie smiled as he disappeared down the stairs. "Nope!" He called.

The panel slide back to cover the staircase. Jack shook his head and turned to the door. He left the office and went back to the hall.

Jamie's friends looked at him expectantly.

"What? If I'm gonna be fighting off nightmares, I need some sort of weapon."

"Ah yes." Cupcake said, coming forward. She reached behind Jamie's throne and pulled out a short sword. It glowed blue briefly, before returning to a steely grey. Jack took it by the hilt and weighed it up in his palm. It was pretty well balanced. "This sword will kill nightmares dead, but it will only last an hour or so. Make every blow count."

Jack nodded. It was better than no weapon whatsoever. He sat on the edge of the elevated platform on which Jamie's throne stood and waited. He didn't have to wait long, since he hear the tell tale whinnying of the nightmares.

Jack was instantly on guard, holding the sword in front of himself protectively. "Everybody get behind me."

Cupcake and the others drew small daggers and such, but they weren't very useful since they didn't kill the nightmares.

The first mare broke through the door, and with a terrifying neigh, it charged right at the winter spirit. Jack slashed the sword right through the nightmare. His eyebrows rose in surprise. The sword was extremely effective.

Jack saw another nightmare charging at him from the opposite direction. He spun on his heel and brought the blade down on the unsuspecting nightmare. It shrieked in dismay as it crumbled and faded back into nightmare sand.

Jack groaned when he saw a flying mass of back sand, before it formed into at least a dozen nightmares. He slashed one after the other, each covering the floor in nightmare sand. More kept creeping out of the shadows and taking Jack by surprise.

He got nicked by a pounding hoof on his elbow, and he winced as he felt his bone fracture. That couldn't be healthy. He sliced through the offending nightmare. "You deserved it." He told the disintegrating nightmare.

Still, more streamed through any cracks in the hall and came straight at Jack. He knew he didn't have long left before he was beaten back. He decided on a tactical retreat to the office. It was a smaller space, so less space for the nightmares to sneak up on him, and only one entrance, so easy to defend.

Jack ushered the kids into the office, before following and slamming the door on an approaching nightmare.

Jack held the door shut, jumping back every time a nightmare charged at the door. "Drag the desk across the door. We can hold them off for a while longer." Jack told the kids, grinning through his pain as they pushed the desk against the door. He stood back and waited with bated breath to see if the door would hold. They charged, the desk shuddered a little, but it held. It was only temporary though.

"Good. How many nightmares d'ya reckon is out there?" He asked, hoping someone would give him some good news.

"About twenty or so." Pippa said, standing in front of the wall panel protectively.

Jack nodded, leaning on the desk to try to make it last a little longer.

The nightmare sand trickled beneath the door frame, unbeknownst to Jack. He realised too late, when the sand curled around his foot and pulled backwards. Jack tripped and hit his head on the desk. Hard.

Jack crumpled to the ground and cried in pain, cradling his aching cranium. He looked up to see a nightmare snorting down at him. It reared and brought its hooves down, right on Jack's head. It would've hit him, had he not thought fast and blocked with the sword.

He pushed the nightmare off of him and got unsteadily to his feet. Jack pressed a hand to his head and blinked to clear his sight.

Another mare came at him, and he blocked its snapping maw. The two black horses circled Jack, whinnying maliciously. Jack shrugged his shoulders. What's the worst that could happen? He went in for the kill, pivoting on the spot, holding out the sword. He took out both nightmares in one sweep.

"Yes!" Jack exclaimed, fist pumping. His celebration was cut short when a nightmare took a charge at him and pushed him against the wall. His already throbbing head hit the wall, and he saw darkness eat around the edges of his vision.

_Please don't pass out! Please don't pass out!_ Jack chanted desperately in his head. The darkness receded and his vision cleared once more.

Jack quickly rebalanced himself and swung the sword through the nightmare. He was beaten back towards the panel until he was standing in front of Pippa. The tall girl screamed when she saw a nightmare coming towards her, but Jack winked at her and dispatched it quickly.

Jack saw a group of four running at the wall, and pushed Pippa out of the way, before dodging the nightmares himself. They crashed through the panel and tumbled down the stairs, dangerously close to Jamie.

Jack grit his teeth and got to his feet again, before turning to race down the stairs to protect Jamie.

He heard a neigh behind him and turned just in time to catch a blow to the stomach from a nightmare. He fell back down the last step or two and crashed to the ground at the bottom.

The nightmare trotted over his fallen body triumphantly, creeping ever closer to Jamie, who was surrounded by the four other nightmares.

Jack looked on helplessly from his incapacitated position. He felt his vision go dark again, until he couldn't see Jamie anymore.

The nightmares tossed their heads, as if limbering up before taking down their prey. Unfortunately, in this case, their prey was Jamie.

_Okay, I admit it. Luna would be handy in this situation. Oh, who am I kidding? I need Luna right now._ Jack thought to himself, but it was too little too late_. _It wasn't as if Luna could just pop out of thin air to rescue him. He pressed his ribs and cried out when he felt one give way.

That was not helping his case. Jack put a hand on the first step and struggled into a seated position. He gathered the sword up in his hand and aimed at the nightmares. Jack couldn't get up, and the sword looked at just about breaking point. The spirit threw the sword with all his might and managed to slice clean through one nightmare before the sword fell into pieces and shattered on the floor.

"Dammit!" Jack cursed when the mares all rounded on him. There were only three left now. Why couldn't he get up?

The nightmares got so close, Jack could feel their breath on his face. When one of them scraped their hoof along the ground, readying a charge, Jack held a protective hand over his head.

_Well, this is it then._ He heard their pounding hooves drawing closer and curled into a ball to protect himself a little better, though he knew it wouldn't do much good.

He heard an indignant snort and the pounding stopped. "What?" Jack asked himself curiously.

"Oh what? DId you want to get killed?" The blonde girl said, putting a palm on the riled up nightmare and turning it into a yellow light, which shone for a minute, before disappearing.

"Luna!" Jack exclaimed happily, trying to get up.

She smiled softly. "You fought bravely, Jack. Rest now, please." She said as Jack closed his eyes.

She turned to Jamie and took the jar from him. "You should've waited. You know Jack isn't strong enough to fight yet! What were you thinking?" Luna demanded angrily, lovingly caressing the jar in her arms.

"We had no choice. The nightmares could've got Jack's believers. He would've been even weaker then he was before if they destroyed that." Jamie protested, reaching out for the jar.

Luna frowned and put it down on the desk, before holding out a hand and making a yellow glow appear in her hands. She placed her hands on the desk and concentrated on making a cage of the moons energy. The yellow glow formed a small cage around the jar.

"This should protect it for a while. Please, don't let any nightmares in. I know you're scared but-"

"Don't worry. We're not afraid. We don't believe in them anymore. Jack protected us." Jamie smiled at the blonde girl and walked back up the stairs towards the hall.

Luna knelt next to Jack's sleeping form and dragged him over her shoulder. Good thing spirits don't weigh that much.

* * *

"OWWWWW!" Jack yelled as Luna wrapped a bandage around his broken ribs.

"Oh be quiet. It's not like your physically hurt, it's just that they've broken your spirit slightly." She said, chuckling lightly. She was relieved that none of Jack's wounds were permanent.

"Will you stop it!?" Jack cried, knocking Luna's hands away.

"I need to bandage you up. Surely you know that by now."

Jack sighed and shook his head. He could see in Luna's eyes that she didn't quite forgive him for running of by himself. In truth, Luna was wondering if Jack had forgiven _her_ for not telling him her true heritage.

"Look, I'm sorry for running off. I need you." Jack said genuinely, his azure eyes completely serious.

Luna smiled and pushed Jack's snowy hair out of his eyes with delicate fingers. "You don't have to be sorry." She carried on bandaging his elbow up, but she was gentler this time.

"So...where to now?"

"Well, you can fight now, can't you?" Luna asked.

Jack nodded.

"Isn't it obvious then?" Luna paused as if waiting for a reply. "We need to get your staff back."

A genuine smile bloomed on Jacks face for the first time in days. "Well it's about damn time."

* * *

**Thanks to; **

**H. 8812, celebi2gen, XxTheMoonRiddlexX and a guest user (login or get an account, I want to thank you guys!) **

**And also;**

**Lemmiere Chrys, Someone 136 and FrostBitten Snowdrift for the favs and follows. **

**I'm really happy that you like Luna and I will try to develop her character a bit more :D **

**Saff x **


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five:

**Hello again! Welcome to chapter five of How to kill fear. It was a bit of a rush to get this one out, so please point out any mistakes and I shall fix them. Please review ~ I need ideas for chapter six!**

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"Hey, Luna?" Jack tugged on one of Luna's blonde locks.

She rolled her eyes at Jack's antics. "What is it?"

"Where exactly is my staff?" He asked, letting her hair fall back into place and falling back into step with her.

"It is being held at the safest part of your subconscious. Safe for your staff, however, not so safe for us."

"Figures." Jack intercepted.

"Anyway, your staff is being held at a place deep in the forest called The ice prison." Luna stated, sounding annoyingly smug in her English accent.

"How d'ya know that?" Jack asked, and stopped short when he saw a tall sign covered in snow. It said;

'MAXIMUM SECURITY ICE PRISON ~ BEST PRISON SINCE ALCATRAZ'

"Huh...I kinda guessed something like this would come up sooner or later. I shouldn't have visited Alcatraz. That place gives me the creeps." Jack shrugged nonchalantly, brushing some snow from the sign. "I wonder who's in there..."

"Probably everyone you don't like that much. And by the looks of this place, _this _place will give you even more of the creeps." Luna said, trying to get her head around the slang that Jack seemed to frequently use.

Jack followed her pointed finger to the prison. It was true to it's name, being as though it seemed to be completely made of ice. But that wasn't all. High walls with barbed wire curled around the top rose around the prison and a self-contained blizzard raged inside the grounds within the walls.

"Why is it so..." Jack trailed off, trying to think of a good word to describe the prison.

"Snowy? Icy? spoo~ooky?" Luna ticked off each point on her fingers, elongating the word 'spooky' for effect.

It seemed to have the right effect on Jack because he looked offended. "I am not scared! I just don't think this is such a good idea."

A small smile played across the blonde haired girls lips. "How many times have I heard _that _before."

Jack pouted and took Luna by the hand. "I'll show you. We'll be in and out in no time. Quick as a rabbit." He said, laughing at his personal joke.

Luna allowed herself to be dragged towards the less-than-safe-looking prison. _What would Jack say? Ah yes. 'Here goes nothing!" _She thought to herself as she was taken to the front gate.

As the duo approached the prison, a couple of yetis came down from the watch towers and positioned themselves in front of the gate.

"Phil!" Jack exclaimed, running towards the yeti to greet him.

"Jack! No! Yetis are not to be... trusted?" Luna warned, but trailed off when the yeti hugged Jack and ruffled his hair. "Am I missing something here?"

Jack looked shocked that Luna didn't know 'Phil" but introduced her anyway. "Phil, Luna. Luna, Phil."

"Hello." Luna said uncertainly, shaking the yetis paw.

"Phil is the head of security at the pole, and this is his brother, Jim." Jack said, gesturing to the other yeti. "Me and Phil go way back." He turned back to the yetis. "Sooo. D'ya reckon you could let us in? I need to get my staff."

Phil shrugged as if to say 'Why not?' and promptly opened the gates.

Jack and Luna walked straight through the blizzard inside the prison walls, Jack unaffected due to his affiliations with winter weather, Luna not so much. Her blonde hair was blown about wildly by the wind and wet snow soaked her to the bone.

"Jack?"

Jack turned to Luna, who was shivering and sopping wet. "Yes?"

"Have I ever told you that I hate your element?" She said cooly, tugging at her hair to try to tame it.

Jack chuckled. "Sorry, but without my staff, I can't do anything to stop this blizzard. Come on. Lets get inside." Jack went through the door that lead into the prison entrance hall and held the door open for his companion. Luna slammed the door shut and slid down the wall, panting slightly.

"Hey. Don't tell me you can't just poof that blizzard away with your magic yellow energy?" Jack grabbed a coat that was hanging off the coat hook next to the door and draped it around Luna's shoulders.

"I cannot just 'poof' that blizzard away. I hold no sway over the elements." She deadpanned, hoisting the coat further up her shoulders.

"Ha! Something I can do better than you!" Jack laughed, turning to walk down the corridor. A couple more yetis stopped his advance. "Hey, what gives!?" Jack cursed, rubbing his sore ribs where he had bumped into the yetis.

They grunted to each other, before one took Jack by the shoulders and lead him down the corridor, and the other took Luna.

"Excuse me! I don't appreciate being manhandled, you big oaf!" Luna squirmed in the yetis grip, but she couldn't get loose.

Neither could Jack, the master of escape plans, who was better than Houdini himself.

Jack and Luna were bundled into a room, where they were pushed to the floor by the yetis.

Jack looked up. No, not a room. A cell.

"I told you yetis are not to be trusted!" Luna fumed, hugging the coat closer.

Jack shrugged sheepishly. "They must've thought we were escaped convicts. It isn't that bad, I'm sure someone will come to get us."

Luna frowned at Jack and continued to give him the cold shoulder. She turned around and leaned on the wall, stretching out her legs until they reached the other side of the cell.

"Can't you just magic us out of here?" Jack asked, copying Luna's position.

Luna huffed sharply. "I'm not even going to answer that, you imbecile."

"Whoa, enough of the fancy insults. I get it. It's my fault. I think I might have a plan though." Jack raised an eyebrow at the door and leant against the wall. The only thing to do now was wait.

* * *

It took a couple of hours, but eventually a yeti came with dinner. Jack had noticed earlier that there was no slot on the door to push food through, so they would have no choice but to open the door.

Sure enough, a big wooly yeti pushed open the steel door and threw down a bowl of what looked like a pile of muddy snow/slush.

Jack curled his fingers around a small rock he had found in the cell earlier. He launched it at the yeti. It hit the poor mammal in the eye.

While the yeti was distracted, Jack crawled past it, closely followed by Luna.

"Come on!" Jack shouted back to Luna as they ran down the long prison corridor. It was easier said than done for Luna, since the even the floor was made of ice. She slipped, but caught herself and kept running.

Jack turned and saw the yeti waddling after them, shouting angrily in yetish.

"Quick! In here!" Jack prompted, opening an oak door for Luna, before following her inside. "We should be safe now." He reassured her, though she looked more annoyed than anything.

"Safe from what?" A voice echoed throughout the room Jack had just locked them in.

They turned slowly to face a plump man with a big beard and long white hair.

"North!" Jack exclaimed happily.

North smiled calmly back, stepping aside to reveal a long wooden...staff!

Jack surged forward, desperate to be reunited with his conduit of power, only to be blocked by North. Jack ran straight into the man's pot belly.

Jack frowned at North, but the Russian man just shrugged. "I need something in return first."

"Okay. What is it?" Jack asked curiously.

"I need you to help sort out...small weather problem. You see big blizzard outside, da? Is caused by that scoundrel, wind. I have tried everything. I have even had him locked up here in my prison, but no. The blizzards never cease." He said thoughtfully, stroking his beard.

Jacks eyes held anger and fear at the same time. Wind was his friend. His first ever friend. What if something bad had happened to him?

"Take me to him."

* * *

Jack was taken to the cell in which wind was being held quickly. North had commanded a yeti to open the cell door and it dragged wind out.

A lanky teenage boy was thrown on the floor outside the cell, and he fell just before Jack's feet. Jack immediately suck to his knees next to his fallen comrade. The boy seemed almost transparent and had grey hair and grey eyes. Nothing about him stuck out at all, and that was just the way he liked it.

Wind was a wild spirit that could not be tamed, but he was definitely subdued at the least.

"Are you okay? What did they do to you?" Jack asked frantically, helping wind into a seated position.

"H-hey Jack. I'm fine, just these yeti idiots threw me in jail. I've been in here for longer than I expected, so I guess I got a bit weak. Have you come to bust me out?" Wind asked weakly, pressing a hand to his forehead.

"Something like that." Jack grimaced at how weak wind was. When wind was back on his feet, Jack put an arm around him for support and helped him back to North's office.

Once they were back, Jack whirled on North. "How could you let him get like this? He could've been seriously hurt. Or worse!"

"He was making too much of a fuss, he needed to be taught some discipline." North said as if it was the most obvious reason.

"The real North doesn't believe in discipline." Jack bit back, leaving wind with Luna.

"Well **nobody** believes in **you**, so just save your petty whining for your little moon companion." North said in a crisp, English accent.

"What?" Jack frowned. He'd never heard North talk like that before. He had to admit, North's comment hurt a little, and made him slightly conflicted. People believed in him, didn't they?

"Oh come knew you'd see me here somewhere. It was just a a matter of time." North said, before his face distorted into black sand and reformed as none other than Pitch Black's ugly features. "Hello again, Jack Frost."

Jack's features twisted into an angry scowl. "Why are you here!?"

Pitch laughed slowly at Jack's distress. "_I'm _not here. No one in this place is _actually_ here, Jack. This is all just figment of your imagination."

Jack said nothing, but looked around to Luna. She gave him a weak smile, and placed a hand on his shoulder. The gesture said 'I'm here.'

"You must be afraid of something, or this...copy of myself wouldn't be waltzing through your subconscious right now. Tell me, Jack. What frightens you the most?" The nightmare king didn't wait for an answer as he continued. "You fear that no one will ever love you? That the guardians will **never **accept you. Or is it that **no one will ever believe in you?**"

Jack ran pale fingers through his hair as Pitch tried to invade his sanity. "Stop it! STOP IT!" He yelled, his voice sounding broken and terrified.

Luna's eyes grew wide. That was Jack's biggest fear. Not being believed in. And it was standing right in front of him, in the form of his notorious enemy, Pitch Black.

"Jack, we need to retreat, there is no way you can defeat him." Luna said, steadying wind so he was ready to run.

"No! I am not afraid of him!" Jack protested, standing boldly in front of Pitch. The evil man shrugged.

"We'll see if you still believe that after this." He said, holding out a hand with nightmare sand dancing on the fingertips. He sent it forward, and the sand twirled around Jack, before surging forwards into his eyes.

Jack yelled in pain, trying to rub the sand out of his eyes, but it was too late, and he was pulled back into the shadows.

"Jack!" Luna cried, trying to go after him. Pitch stepped in the way.

"Calm down, moon girl. He's simply reliving another memory." Pitch said sarcastically.

"Wait...Then that other time Jack was...That was you!? How dare you!" Luna stormed, her yellow aura glowing brighter by the second.

Pitch just smiled with an eerie calmness. "I think it's my turn to retreat. See you later, annoying little girl."

"I am not a little-!" Luna said, and was cut off when Pitch disappeared into the shadows. She slid down onto her knees and let wind rest his head on her lap. "What now?" She sighed.

"Jack'll be fine. I've known him for a long time, so I know he can handle himself." Wind reassured her.

"I hope that is the case." Luna said, staring up at Jack's staff which was being held in a glass container coated in ice.

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**Thanks to; **

**celebi2gen, IHaveAName (You have a name! yay!) and JelliedPanda. (Thanks for putting your names there, makes this a whole lot easier)**

**And also; **

**werekit and JelliedPanda for the favs/follows. (JelliedPanda, thanks for the awesome review, that was really nice of you!)**

**Saff x **


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six: Alone

**Hi. Sorry this update is a bit late, but heres another chapter of How to kill fear. This chapter is completely fluff! I like fluff! Also, I recommend you listen to this song while reading; Foy Vance - Be the song. Okay, please review, follow, favorite. Anything is awesome!**

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Jack felt warm sheets under his fingertips. He opened his eyes slowly. His head pounded, but he grit his teeth against the pain and helped himself up. He realised that he had been lying in a bed. Jack was suddenly on alert, looking around to find where he was.

It was a small room, constructed completely out of wood. There were two beds that looked rather makeshift, blankets made of sheepskin.

"Hello?" He called. No answer. Jack shrugged and continued deeper into the house.

As he walked through the house, he realised everything was nostalgic to him, even a pair of deer antlers that had been mounted on the wall in what looked like the kitchen.

"Jack, there you are. Honey, can you take this out to your father for me?"

Jack turned to face who had spoken. A short woman with brown, shoulder length hair stood next to the table. She had faint laughter lines at the corners of her mouth, that suggested she smiled a lot. She had kind looking coffee brown eyes. In her hands was a long shepherd's staff.

_My staff!_ Jack surged forward and took it from the woman.

She laughed softly, her eyes lighting up at Jack's antics. "Your eager, Jackson. Did Pippa put ants in your bed or something?" When she chuckled, it was something beautiful. It sounded so full of love, so full of maternal care, it made Jack's heart lurch in longing. He'd never heard something like that directed at him before.

But at hearing the name Pippa, he knew it was just a memory of a time better spent. He cast his gaze to the ground and took the staff. "O-okay. I'll take it out to him right away...Mom." He said tentatively, the word 'mom' rolling off his tongue awkwardly. It felt wrong. This memory was wrong.

Jack's mother put a small hand on his shoulder and frowned in concern. "What is it, sweetie? Is something wrong?"

Jack pulled out of his mothers grasp and looked away, fighting back tears. "No. Nothings wrong." He said, his voice breaking unnoticeably.

A smile caressed her lips in a gesture of kindness. "Okay then. Well, run along now."

Jack nodded numbly and jogged out of the open door. He saw a middle aged man chopping wood by the side of the house. As Jack drew closer, the chopping slowed down, then stopped when he was standing next to the wood pile.

"Hi, Mom asked me to take this to you." Jack handed over the staff. The man accepted the wooden branch, smiling in gratitude.

"I'm taking Rufus and Pippa out to hear sheep. Do you want to join us?" The man asked in a gravely tone, reminding Jack of North.

"Yeah, Dad, I think I will." Jack replied, deciding to play along with the memory. He liked to think this was all real, that he was back home with his family. He was scared to get too comfortable with the memory, in case a nightmare interrupted, but he also wanted to relive this memory, if just to feel safe for the first time in years.

Jack barely registered his dad whistling for Rufus the sheepdog, Pippa following hot on his heels.

"Jack! Look what I found." She gushed, holding up a fluffy baby rabbit.

"Hey, lil' sis. That's awesome!" Jack said, taking the rabbit in his hands.

"Awe-some?" Pippa repeated, obviously unsure of what the word meant. And she had good reason to, since the word wasn't invented yet.

"But I think we should put him back. We can't just...take him away from his family." Jack said, pressing his lips together, trying his hardest not to break down and cry right there.

He gently placed the rabbit on a patch of grass, next to two bigger bunnies. He knew he shouldn't be getting upset over rabbits, but it was the meaning behind the animals. Family was important, even for rabbits. He knew the baby rabbit would die if it was taken away from its family. He wondered why he didn't just give up all those years ago. And the everlasting question continued to echo in his head, forever unanswered. _Why was I saved?_

"Jack? Can we go now?" Pippa asked, breaking Jack out of his thoughts.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and breathed in deeply. "Yeah. Lets go." He started to walk towards his father, Pippa skipping along next to him.

"We're going to have so much fun!" Pippa squeaked happily.

"Fun." Jack repeated, his chest constricting in sadness. He felt sick to the stomach. Homesick.

"Come one, you pair of slowcoaches! Old Rufus is faster than you, and he's going grey around the muzzle." Jacks father reprimanded, waving his hand impatiently.

"Hey, dad, your going grey around the muzzle too!" Pippa giggled.

"You'll regret you ever said that, young lady!" Her father scolded in mock seriousness.

Pippa screamed and laughed at the same time and ran ahead. Jack fell into step with his father.

"So, do you think your ready to take over the family business?" Dad asked, using the staff to support his weight as the trio made their way through the tall grass.

Jack's heart lurched again, but he swallowed it down and smiled weakly. "Sure, I think I will."

A smile spread across dad's face. "That's great, Jackson. I'm glad. now, why don't you go play with your sister, unless you want to tell me whats wrong with you today. You seem a bit off." He said honestly.

Jack sighed. "Just-just let me enjoy today."

"That's fine by me, son." Dad patted his son on the shoulder and pushed him towards his sister.

"Thanks, dad." Jack whispered as he ran towards his sister.

The meadow was basked in an orange light from the afternoon sun, and Jack and Pippa sat next to a small river, Pippa dangling her legs in the water.

"Hey Jack." Pippa asked.

"What is it?"

"Look" She said simply, pointing towards the sky. "Those clouds look like you and me holding hands."

Jack looked up and saw the pink tinted clouds in the shape of a girl and a boy. "Oh yeah. They do, don't they."

Pippa nodded, placing a tiny hand on top of Jack's. "I don't ever want to grow up."

"Why is that?"

"Because I never want you to leave me. I want us to be brother and sister no matter what." She said seriously, frowning at the river.

"It will be like that. I'll always be there, even when you can''t see me." Jack tapped a finger over her heart. "I'll always be in here."

Pippa smiled. "Thanks, Jack. I would never forget you."

Jack grinned back. "That's great to hear."

"Hey, you two! I herded all the sheep. No thanks to you." Dad mumbled, plopping down beside Jack. "Hey, good to see you've cheered up. What caused your change of heart?"

Jack looked distant for a second before replying. "I guess I just realised that I'll always be loved, even when it doesn't seem like it."

His father nodded, ruffling his hair. "We're a family. We stick together. You won't ever be alone."

Jack smiled again. "I hope not."

"Hey, where did Jack go?" Dad asked, looking around with a puzzled expression.

"What? Dad, I'm right here." Jack tried to get his fathers attention. Suddenly, his vision was clouded and nightmare sand weaved in and out of his vision. He didn't resist when it pulled him out of the memory. It didn't feel like a violent gesture, more a gentle tug.

His vision cleared and he saw the bright sun shining down on a lake. He was sitting on a fallen tree trunk, next to a girl with tanned skin and blonde hair tied in a bun under a bonnet. She had her eyes closed and she was leaning towards him.

He searched his brain for a memory like this, and he found one. The girl was called Isabelle Melrose, and she had been Jack's lover in the time he had been alive. They had grown up together, and this was the day they had confessed to one another.

"Jackson?"

Jack cast his gaze over to Isabelle. Her beautiful green eyes were fluttering open. "Yes?" He replied gently, not wanting to disturb the calm of the moment.

"I think I love you." She confessed, looking down in embarrassment.

Jack blushed. "I think I love you too." He put a hand on her face and cupped her cheek. She leaned in a little more, her eyes closing again. He ran his fingers through her fringe and touched her lips with his, waiting for her confirmation. She answered by deepening the kiss and he followed her, before breaking apart.

He smiled and leaned his forehead against hers, looking right into her emerald eyes.

"You know what I've always wanted?" She asked gently, Jack feeling her breath against his face.

"I don't know." He said, stumped by her question.

"I've always wanted a family. I want a family like yours, Jack. Where everyone cares for one another." She said, her voice sounding melancholy.

"Then when we're older, we can make that family together. Pippa can live with us and-" He was cut off when Isabelle kissed him again, though he felt a smile through her lips. He was being cheesy and he knew it. That's what Isabelle loved about Jack.

"It's getting dark. I'm going to go back home, but...keep that family in mind. Maybe one day, my dream can come true." She smiled and got up, walking back towards the village.

Jack sighed and laid back on the log, falling asleep with the sun beating down on his face.

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"Jack! JACK!" Someone called. Jack jolted awake, falling off the log he had been asleep on.

"Where are you Jack?" The voice sobbed desperately.

"I'm right here, I'm fine." He replied, running towards the voice. It was dark, but the village was illuminated by torches held by what looked like the whole village.

He joined them, standing next to his family. He saw his mother sobbing on his fathers shoulder. "Hey, it's okay, I'm here." He said, putting a hand on his mothers shoulder. His heart sunk when his hand went straight through his own mother.

_Back to this, are we?_ He thought bitterly. "Okay, Pitch. I get it. I had a great life and now I don't. Can you just show yourself so I can fight you?" Jack said, his voice heavy with the threat of tears.

"No, my boy. It isn't that easy. I think I'll just leave you to suffer in this place. You can watch your family lose hope around you, you can watch their despair. And when you've been reduced to nothing but a husk, I will crush you so I never have to deal with you again." Pitches voice echoed from the shadows so Jack could hear him from every direction.

Jack's face contorted in rage. "No. You show yourself right now, you coward!"

"I don't think I will. Have fun, Jack Frost." The voice faded, leaving him alone with his despairing family.

He tried his hardest to comfort them, but they couldn't hear, nor see him. He tried to hug Isabelle and tell her it was alright, but she walked right through him.

Eventually, Jack gave up and went back to the pond. He sat back down on the log and held his head in his hands. _They really can't see me. No one can see me._ His deepest fear was flashing before his eyes, and he wanted nothing more than to curl up and sleep forever.

But he had to get back to Luna. He needed to escape this memory. But how?

He suddenly recalled Luna could save him, but only if he wanted saving.

_"I could only have saved you if you wanted saving. Before that, you were too shocked by the notion of reliving one of your memories to even think about it. All I did was stop the memory by creating a temporary mental connection with you so I could see the memory. I then used a simple blast of energy to disperse the nightmare sand."_

Her words came back to him suddenly, and he knew what to do.

"Luna, I need you. I need you to save me." He whispered, looking up at the moon in his memory.

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_Luna, I need you._ Jack's voice called in her head. _I need you to save me. _She nodded grimly. She'd been waiting for Jack to call for help for a while now. But she didn't know what memory he was in this time. Last time, she could see what was happening.

She had two choices. Wait until Jack made his way out on his own, or jump blindly into a memory she thought he was having.

She thought back to what had happened right before Jack was dragged into the memory. He met his greatest fear in the form of Pitch. His greatest fear was that people would never believe in him. If that was the case, the memory had to have something to do with that.

Luna took a deep breath and reached out a hand, palm facing upwards, before twisting it so her palm faced downwards. It looked as if her hand was a key turning in a lock. A bright yellow light illuminated Luna's face. She could see a dark village through the doorway she had just opened. Luna hoped it was the right place.

She swallowed hard. It was now or never. She stepped through the portal.

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**Thanks to; H. 8812, Guest, and another guest and another guest (Come on guys, put you names!)for the review **

**And also; Its Chris Pine for the favourite**

**Sorry if the kissing scene is really sucky, I've never written one before. Please help me by dropping a review to tell me what you want to happen next, I'm totally stuck! **

**Saff x **


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven: Two Jack's

**Hello! Sorry if this chapter is mega confusing, but bear with it, I'm sure you can manage. Also, about the Luna-Jack scene at the end...interpret it however you want. lol. As usual, review like a boss because I read and appreciate every single one - you guys are all awesome. Enjoy! **

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Luna came out into Jack's village and looked around. She couldn't see Jack himself anywhere.

_Jack._ She called, mimicking the way he had called her to him. She didn't know why they could hear each other in these memories, but she took it as a good omen.

_I'm here._ His voice replied in her mind.

She nodded and continued through the village. _Where are you?_

_I'm just outside the village in the forest. Hurry._ Jacks voice replied.

Luna broke into a jog and headed towards the forest. She felt an eerie feeling hang over her. Something didn't feel right. She frowned, wondering where all the other people who were part of the memory had gone. She could've sworn she saw them right before she jumped into the memory.

As she drew closer, Luna noticed a head of white hair sticking out of the dense woods. Thank moon, he was okay.

"Jack!" She called out loud.

Jack turned around, and a smile broke out on his face. "Your finally here, moon girl. Don't worry, you wont miss the party."

"Wha-?" Luna managed, before she was taken out from the side by a nightmare. She hit the floor, her hands making no effort to break her fall because of her surprise. She looked up from her position, seeing Jack walking over to her.

"You really are pathetic. Did you really think you could help Jack? Did you think it would be this easy?" Jack laughed inhumanly, his voice sounding cruel.

"J-Jack?" She asked, her eyebrows drawing together in confusion.

Jack smiled, somehow the face that usually held mischievous grins just as easily portrayed a malicious smile. He reached down and grabbed her by her hair, holding her off the ground to eye level.

She shrieked in pain, her hands trying to claw Jack's off of her hair.

He knelt down next to her, holding a finger to his lips and shushing her. "It's okay. I wont let your pain last for long. After all, all I need to do is kill you, then I have Jack firmly in my grasp. Oh, you really have been a pain, but don't worry." He continued, dropping her hair carelessly and letting her fall to the ground painfully.

"W-why are you doing this?" Luna stammered, trying to get up.

"Oh no you don't." He scolded, stamping on her roughly. She fell back to the ground. "Why am I doing this? Hmm. Have you not worked it out yet? The Jack you want isn't here" Jack said, before nightmare sand curled around his fingers. He grinned, but his teeth were pointed this time.

It hit her. This wasn't Jack. This was...

Her fears were confirmed when Jack's face crumbled into the black sand, and reformed into Pitch. "Hello, moon girl."

Luna tried to get up again. "Where is Jack?" She demanded, getting to her feet and releasing a blast of yellow energy, which harmlessly passed through Pitch.

"Don't you understand, girl?" He said, appearing behind her. "I'm a part of him. I'm a part of Jack. Everything in this world is a part of him. The only thing that isn't is you. Your looking for Jack? Great, you've found him. He is everywhere, everything. This whole world is Jack."

"No, you are not a part of Jack. You can't be." Luna assured herself, launching another attack on Pitch. It missed.

"Oh? What am I then?" He asked, encircling her like a hungry wolf.

"You are just nightmare sand that is running through Jacks veins. Nothing more."

"What makes you so sure?" He purred evilly.

"You can't be...I know for sure that Jack would never...You're just nightmare sand that has latched onto his deepest fear and grown more powerful than the rest." She stammered, a little unsure of herself.

"You thought wrong, girl. I only use Pitch's form because it is suiting to my role. I am Jack's evil side, and boy, is there a whole lot of evil intentions in Jack. You'd be surprised. Well, just take me for example." He morphed back into Jack. "You know what? I think I'll keep this form a little while longer. Won't it be lovely if the last thing you see is Jacks face? I hope I've dashed your opinion of him. Now, let me kill you." He said, a black staff materialising in his hands. He laughed humorlessly and brought the staff down on her, the wood crackling with dark energy. It landed one blow on her stomach, and she involuntarily wheezed painfully, rolling over to avoid another attack.

"Please, stop it. You are a part of Jack. You don't want to do this." She whispered, hissing in pain every time she jolted her stomach.

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Jack had searched for so long trying to find a way out of his memory, and had eventually seen a crack. He slipped through it and came back to the prison that he and Luna had been in, just before he got sucked into his memory. He saw wind waiting for him, but not Luna. "Where is she?" He asked curiously.

"She went to save you. She said you called for her help." Wind replied, handing over his staff.

Jack frowned. "I didn't call her."

Wind's grey eyes widened. "Then who...?" He trailed off uncertainly.

"Where did she go?" Jack asked urgently.

Wind pointed at a glowing yellow portal that was just closing.

"I'm going after her." Jack said, jumping through without a second glance. Wind shook his head and flew after him, just before the portal closed up.

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The evil Jack tried to land another blow, but was blocked by another staff, this one its usual color.

"What?!" The dark Jack protested, receiving a blow to the gut from the staff.

"That's what you get for hurting Luna. I don't care what you say, you are not a part of me!" The real Jack said, bringing the staff down on him, cracking a shoulder bone. His evil counterpart yelled in agony, angrily getting to his feet.

"How dare you interrupt. I will kill you, you just aren't strong enough to beat me."

Jack turned to a patch of air beside him and spoke urgently to it. "Wind, I need you to take Luna away from here."

The wind ruffled Jack's hair in affirmation, before blowing over to Luna and preparing to pick her up. Wind was blocked by a prowling nightmare, which neighed in indecision. It's purpose was to kill Jack, but this wind guy felt just as tasty. Wind changed into his tangible form and beckoned the nightmare to fight. He would die to carry out Jack's orders.

Jack turned back to his evil self and held his staff ready. This wouldn't be easy.

"Like it or not, I'm a part of you. You've always had evil in your heart, Jack. It's time for you to embrace it." He said, one last selfish attempt to save himself.

"Everyone has evil in their hearts, it's just up to them to get rid of it." Jack said angrily, swinging his staff and using an ice attack on him. Dark Jack's feet froze, and he fell forward.

Jack sent another attack at his fallen counterpart, hitting him in the back with multiple ice shards. He growled and got up, hitting the ice with his staff to unfreeze his feet.

Dark Jack worked up a nightmare sand blizzard and sent it over at Jack. "You know, when you got hit with all that nightmare sand, it really gave me the boost I needed. I mean, look at me. I have complete control over your fears."

_So thats why the nightmares are obeying him_ Jack thought _Fear and evil go hand in hand, so he can control the sand that was put into me by Pitch. _

Jack tried to fight his way out of the blizzard, but kept being knocked back by sharp shards of ice. He knew he must be cut and bruised, but his main concern was protecting Luna. This evil guy wasn't a nightmare, he was a part of Jack, so Luna couldn't hurt him. He was too strong.

The real Jack swiped his staff through the blizzard and froze all the nightmare sand, then jumped through the gap he had created. His evil counterpart immediately came at him, grabbing him by the neck and shoving him roughly against a tree. Jacks head hit the tree with a painful sounding smack. He was held up by Dark Jack, who smiled as he tightened his grip around Jack's throat.

"Giving up?" He asked with mock sympathy.

"Not likely." Jack mumbled determinedly. He raised the crook of his staff to Dark Jack's face and released a burst of ice energy. It hit his evil counterpart, who gasped in pain and tried to claw the ice from his face. Jack used his free hand to punch him in the stomach, blue light dancing across his fist. The power that he had put into the punch made it so Dark Jack was thrown across the forest, before hitting a tree until the branches shook. Jack marched right towards his evil counterpart, dropping his staff on the ground as he went. His expression was a creepy kind of calm, his mouth set into a grim line. He held up a hand and an ice-made dagger formed in his palm. He gripped the hilt and held it ahead of him. When he was level with his evil self, he held the blade against his throat. He pressed it harder against his neck, piercing the skin. Black blood ran from the wound, making Jack cringe slightly. He was about to slice the blade across his throat, but he heard a yell from behind him.

He turned to see a disheveled, but definitely scared Luna, being helped along by wind. "Jack you can't!" She cried desperately.

Jack, however, was beyond reasoning with. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't?" He demanded through grit teeth.

"Because he is a part of you. If you kill him, you'll be no better than him."

"Then what do you propose we do then?" He asked, pressing the blade with more force.

"I have an idea. For now, I will bind his hands." She said, as one would to a startled animal. She really didn't want Jack to do anything he would regret.

"Okay." He said nonchalantly, before removing the blade...and plunging it into Dark Jack's abdomen. "There. Bind his hands."

Dark Jack fell forwards, his body hitting the ground limply.

"Jack! Why did you do that!?" She said with a tone that was somewhere between fear and anger.

Jack shrugged casually. "It's not like he's dead." He said, lifting the evil Jack up by his hair. Evil Jack's eyes flickered open weakly. Jack wrenched his hands behind his back and held them out for Luna to bind. Luna held out a finger and a slim trail of yellow energy snaked around Dark Jacks wrists.

"Lets leave him here and go. Hopefully, he won't escape from this memory." Jack said, turning to Luna and beckoning for her to follow him. He bent down and retrieved his staff.

"Jack, if you leave him here, it will corrupt this memory. You probably won't even remember whatever happened here." Luna cautioned, looking down at the fallen form of Jack's evil counterpart.

"I don't care." Jack said bitterly. He ignored the yells and shouts in the distance, the sounds of a search party for Jackson Overland Frost's body.

Luna nodded dejectedly and opened a portal back to Jack's dream world. She stepped through with the help of wind, followed closely by Jack. They came out into a bright jungle-like forest, a cottage stood amongst the trees. It was the cottage Jack had first woken up in.

"Why are we here again?" Jack asked.

Luna didn't answer, and pulled away from winds support, limping inside the cottage.

"Wait here." Jack said to wind, patting him on the shoulder. Wind faded back into his intangible state and blew through the trees.

Jack followed her into the cottage, closing the door behind them.

"Luna whats wrong?"

"I can't believe you! I never thought you'd ever do such a thing! How could you!?" She yelled, and there was no doubt that she was angry.

Jack was shocked, he backed against the wall, slightly intimidated by Luna's anger. She'd always been so cool and collected.

"I thought I was saving you. You would've died!" He shouted back, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"I can save myself! I don't matter, _you_ matter! If you had been hurt...if you had died...I don't think I could..." She trailed off, all traces of anger gone in her face. Her eyebrows drew together in concern. "I don't think I could live with myself." A lonely tear trailed down her pale cheek, before she swatted it away like an annoying mosquito.

Jack looked torn for a second, before throwing his arms around her and embracing her tightly. She sobbed into his shoulder.

"Hey. It's okay. I'm okay." He comforted softly. Jack took her over to the bed and sat her down, her head resting against his shoulder still. "Its okay..." He repeated, stroking her hair in comfort.

"I want to save you, Jack. I want to see you alive." Luna said quietly, her voice muffled by Jack's shirt.

"You will. Don't worry about it." Jack whispered. "You need to rest now, you've had a busy day."

Jack felt her chuckle against his shoulder. "It's always a busy day with you around."

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**Okay, I can't do a 'thanks to' at the end of this one, because my email is being all like NOPE! so thanks to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed your the best. As usual, a big thanks to Celebi2gen for the ideas and JelliedPanda also, because those really helped! Oh and IHaveAName! (Those are off the top of my head) You guys are all awesome! **

**Okay - see you next chapter - Review please! It really helps! **

**Saff x **


	8. HELP (authors note)

**A/N**

**HELP! I have completely run out of ideas! I can't think of anything at all! I haven't even written chapter eight yet because I don't have a clue about what I want to do with this chapter :( Somebody please help me! Otherwise I won't be able to carry on with this story and it will be *gulp* discontinued D: I really don't want that to happen. **

**S.O.S **

**Saff x **


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter eight: To the warren!

**Hi! I had serious writers block, but I managed to produce this, so sorry if it's really bad :P Anyhow, thank to everyone who reviewed, and helped me to write this one, go you! Enjoy and don't forget to leave me a review if you want more :)**

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Jack woke up with a start, jolting Luna, who had fallen asleep on him. He could hear wind banging against the windows to wake him up.

"Alright, alright. I'm up." He assured wind as he stretched out and yawned.

Wind ceased immediately.

Jack gently shook Luna's shoulder, trying to wake her up. Her eyes fluttered open after a while, her bright yellow irises adjusting to the light.

"Morning. How do you feel?" Jack asked, cringing at Luna's expression.

"I feel like I was beaten up by the evil version of Jack Frost." Luna deadpanned, rubbing the back of her head.

Jack rolled his eyes, but played along. "Hmmm. That's strange. I feel just the same way."

Luna smiled lightly. "Come on, we need to get going."

"What are we doing today?" Jack asked curiously.

"Uh. I don't know."

"What! You don't know? You can't just not know!" Jack exclaimed.

Luna shrugged. "I don't know. You can do whatever you want."

Jack pondered on this for a moment. "Does Bunny exist in my subconscious?"

"Anyone you've ever met will be here, one way or another..." She said, remembering that most of the people they had met so far hadn't been as they seemed.

"Can we go visit him?" Jack asked, azure eyes sparkling in anticipation.

Luna considered for a moment, before nodding.

Jack grinned, grabbing his staff and whistling for wind. Wind was back to blowing against the door in a matter of seconds. Jack chuckled, jogging over to open the door before wind knocked the whole house down, and Jack had no intention of reliving a three-pigs-and-a-wolf related fairy tail.

The second he opened the door, he felt the wind lift him off his feet and out of the door. Jack tried to grip to the doorframe before he was whisked away, but ended up taking some of the weathered wood with him. Luna just stood and watched Jack's antics with a raised eyebrow. Because wind was invisible, all she saw was Jack floating away, apparently against his will.

"Luna, help! I'm being spirit-napped by the wind!" Jack called jokingly, floating higher.

"Okay, you have fun with that." Luna rolled her eyes and walked back into the cottage.

Jack smiled and let himself be taken even higher by the wind. "Hey, could you take me to Bunny's? If he's the same as he is in real life, he may have something I can give to Luna." Jack asked wind.

_Why do you need something for Luna? _Wind whispered in Jack's ears. Anyone else would have been freaked out, but Jack was completely at ease. The wind had been his only companion for over three hundred years, and you couldn't cringe every time your friend talked. Jack had become accustomed to wind whispering around him.

"Can't you see? She's really upset. I want to get her something to cheer her up." Jack felt the wind tousle his snowy hair in agreement.

Wind took him lower, so his feet were skimming the trees. If there was something he missed about the real world, it was that there were no snow days here.

"Do you think it _could_ snow here?" Jack asked wind. Even he, the winter spirit, didn't know if he could actually make it snow in his own subconscious.

_There's no hurt in trying._ Wind assured, taking him to the ground, before dropping him softly on the forest floor.

"I guess not." Jack murmured. In truth, he was desperate to use his powers after so long without his staff. Jack closed his eyes and breathed in sharply, taking in the scents of the forest. He let the bottom of his staff touch the ground lightly, before opening his eyes. The forest floor had frosted over. Jack smiled in encouragement. The ice branched out and touched the roots of the trees, traveling up the trunks. Jack laughed.

"Looks like those nightmares are gonna be in for a surprise." Wind said, turning into his tangible form and running a finger across the ice. "Very good, by the way. Even in your weakened state, the ice is strong." Wind was in many centuries, Jack's superior and elder, although he looked younger than Jack. It was wind that helped Jack get a hold of his powers. They had become very close friends over the years.

"Thanks. Three hundred years of practice does that. You're not so bad yourself." Jack complimented, punching wind on his almost see-through shoulder.

Wind snorted at Jack's compliment. He was glad Jack came along when he did. Not many people knew, but the wind had a spirit too, and spirits get lonely. When wind was given a companion, even one as insufferable as a recently reborn winter spirit, it was a godsend.

While wind was lost in his thoughts of the past, Jack had sat down. A sudden sensation of fatigue had rushed through him, and he had sat down to rest. But he wasn't feeling any better. In fact, he felt worse, and he didn't know why.

Wind finally noticed Jack. He looked terrible. His eyes were drooping, as if it were hard for them to stay open, and his skin was paler than usual and clammy. "Jack, are you okay?" Wind asked uncertainly. His question was answered when Jack's eyes closed and he fell back against the tree, unconscious.

"Oh god! Jack!?" WInd surged forward, putting his hands on Jack's shoulders. He could feel how hot he was through the shirt. That wasn't natural at all for Jack. "Jack! Wake up!"

* * *

"Hey Babytooth." Bunnymund greeted the mini fairy with a sad smile gracing his furry face. The small hummingbird reminded him of Jack. Although the strange girl had come to tell him that Jack was okay, just trapped in another world, Bunny had only believed her so he could convince himself that Jack was okay. Now, he was beginning to have his doubts.

The small fairy nibbled on his thumb in affection, Bunny wincing when her sharp teeth dug in.

"Will you cut that out, ya weird lil' fairy. Dont'cha 'ave something better to do?" Bunny said, annoyed.

The fairy chattered her unintelligible language indignantly.

"Yeah. I'm worried about Jack too. But he's okay. I know he is." Bunny said quietly, petting Babytooth on her plume of feathers, above her eyes.

More chattering.

"Yes, I know you miss him, but he's coming back." Bunny paused for a sigh. "Any day now."

"Bunny! We have company!" Tooth called from a tower above him. Bunny looked up and saw at least half a dozen nightmares coming towards him.

"Tooth, is Pitch with them?" Bunny demanded hurriedly. He really didn't want to have to protect such an open area as the Tooth Palace.

"I can't tell. Babytooth, get the other fairy's and go underground. You know the place I showed you?" Tooth requested in a shrill voice, in concern for her babies. She didn't want them to be kidnapped (Fairynapped?) by Pitch again.

Babytooth remembered. The underground in question, was Bunny's warren.

Tooth nodded and gave Babytooth a wink for good luck.

Bunny turned and saw a shadow, darker than a shadow under the asian sun should be. It had to be Pitch. To his expectation, the shadow formed into Pitch, who proceeded to casually lean against the wall and inspect his nails.

"So, guess what I found?" He said nonchalantly, much to the bewilderment of Bunny and Tooth.

"Uh, what?" Bunny asked in confusion, referring to how Pitch was acting.

Pitch obviously took his answer as an answer to his question, and carried on. "I found a certain signal coming from a certain dose of nightmare sand a few hours ago. Would you like to know were I put that last dose of sand?" Pitch baited them, as one might do to a fish.

Tooth nodded, she had an inkling of where this was going.

"I put the nightmare sand in Jack Frosts body when I killed him with my scythe. The only reason the nightmare sand would come back to life like that is if the blood in the dead hosts body were to start being pumped about the body again. Jack is coming back to life, very slowly, but still. I could tell you where the body is." Pitch smirked. He was having the exactly the effect he wanted. Tooth's delicate hands had flown to cover her mouth. She realised what Pitch was preposing.

"Give up. Let me have the kids, and you can have Frost." _Or what's left of him, _Pitch thought darkly. "I won't kill Jack, but only if you accept your fate and give up. Sandman is dead, Jack Frost is nearly dead, and there are only three of you left. How long will it be until there are two." Pitch smirked when Tooth started to cry. "Until there is only one guardian left in the world? None? Why let yourselves die out when you can make one sacrifice, and save yourselves in turn."

"We'll do it." Tooth spoke suddenly, her voice strong and determined.

"Tooth we can't!" Bunny exclaimed, thinking of what Pitch would do to Jamie and Sophie if he ever got his hands on them.

Tooth turned to Bunny, her amethyst eyes full of fear and dreading. "We have to" She said in a heart wrenching voice. "Jack." She justified simply.

Bunny's ears flattened against his neck. He loved the kids, but Jack was family. He could never live with himself if he let Jack die. But Jack would've wanted to die protecting Jamie. He wouldn't have wanted Bunny to chose for him, he would've wanted to chose for himself. He was stubborn like that.

"How about we go get him, bring him back to the pole and wait till he wakes up. When he does, he choses if he wants to be saved, but for the kids in return, or if he wants to fight you. That way, you get the pleasure of beating Jack for a second time and it won't just be picking off the weak." Bunny stated his deal emotionlessly.

"Bunny!" Tooth protested in horror.

"No, Tooth. It should be his own choice, not ours."

Pitch smiled. He was enjoying this. "Hmm. Okay. But I want to add a little challenge to it. Whoever gets to Frost first gets to chose what to do with him."

Bunny winced. Pitch had a way of making Jack sound like an object. "Okay. Tell us where he is."

Pitch seemed to consider this for a moment, before shaking his head. "I don't think I will. I can tell you he is somewhere with snow. That is all. May the best spirit win." Pitch said, before disappearing, along with the numerous nightmares.

"That sly bastard. We need to go now if we have any chance of finding Jack. Tooth, get North. I'm going to Antarctica."

* * *

Wind was scared. Jack woke up, but that was good and bad Jack had woken, his eyes had glowed an eerie golden color, before he tried to attack wind. Wind had held him off for a while, but he didn't want to hurt his friend. The friend in question now had him backed against a tree. With murder in his eyes, Jack had frozen wind to the tree.

"Jack! You really don't want to do this. I don't want to hurt you." Wind pleaded, though in reality, he couldn't really do anything in self defense in his position.

"Don't touch him, he's being controlled!" Luna shouted, appearing out of the trees.

Wind relaxed. Saved by the girl. "Controlled by what exactly?" Wind asked.

"The nightmare sand. It's a relapse, just stay away from him and it should be over soon." Luna said, coming to a stop behind Jack.

Suddenly, Jack groaned and placed a hand on his head. "What happened?" He asked groggily, his eyes fading back to blue.

"Oh thank god. I thought I was a goner!" Wind laughed nervously, trying to break out of the ice.

Jack touched a fingertip to the ice and shattered it, but his mind was elsewhere. What just happened.

"Jack. We don't have much time." Luna said urgently. "The nightmare sand to blood ratio is changing significantly. If it gets too much, you'll die in this realm. We need to find the source of the sand and destroy it. It is your last chance for resurrection."

"Nightmare sand? I thought you healed it." Jack frowned. He was so sure he was going to be okay. He was sure he could go back to the guardians and everything would be normal again.

Luna's brow drew together in concern. She put a hand on Jack's shoulder to reassure him. "We'll do it. I know you can do it. I just know it." She smiled, a bright smile that Jack couldn't help but smile back too.

"Okay, where do we start?" Jack asked.

"Were we not visiting a friend of yours? I hear he is wise. He'd know where to find the nightmares." Luna grinned again, grabbing a hold of Jack's hand. She saw Jacks eyes were still distant. "Don't worry about it." She assured him.

Jack smiled down at her, placing a hand on her head affectionately.

"Hate to ruin a good moment, but what is that!?" Wind cried, pointing a trembling finger at the ground where two bunny ears had just popped out of the ground. A small rabbit hoped out of the hole. It had large emerald eyes, and a mustache and top hat.

Jack fell to the floor laughing. "Thats...always how...I imagine him...when I'm dreaming!" He said hysterically, between laughter.

Luna looked very worried. "Who is this?"

"That is my good friend, .Bunnymund." Jack introduced regaining his composure. Luna started laughing along with Jack.

"I dunno what your laughin' at." Bunny said, kicking out one of his little paws at Jack.

"Why?"Jack asked, frowning at the small bunny.

"You'll need my help to get to the nightmare realm." Bunny stated seriously, though the mustache and top hat were making it hard for Jack to pay attention.

"Where's that?"

"On the other side a my warren, ya gumby's And if you wanna get there, you better stick with me!" Bunny said before hopping down the hole he had come up from.

Jack, wind and Luna looked at each other, before shrugging and jumping down after him.

* * *

**Thanks again for everyone who reviewed, have a brownie this time :) Also, I think this story has about four or five chapters left in it, so please bear with it :) Thanks!**

**Saff x **


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter nine: The truth about Luna

**Hey! Welcome to chapter nine of HTKF. Hope you enjoy! Don't forget to review, I want to reach fourty reviews by the end of this fic, I think that would be absolutely awesome :D Sorry about the writers block chapter, but that was a crisis! **

* * *

Bunny shivered. He knew Antarctica was cold, but this was freezing, and he was an immortal that hung out with a winter spirit. Anyone would think he'd be used to the cold by now. Not by a long shot.

But the ever decreasing temperature was a good sign. The colder it was, the closer he was to Jack. Or so he hoped. Tooth still hasn't returned from fetching North from the pole, and Bunny really hoped she hadn't run into Pitch.

Bunny's nose twitched. He could smell Jack, but very faintly. If he hasn't known Jack, he wouldn't have noticed anything. Bunny didn't know how Jack's body had gotten here, but he could only assume a dead spirit went to its favorite place. Jack's favorite place was Antarctica. He would come here when he felt sad or needed some time to blow off some steam. For a winter spirit, he sure was hotheaded.

Bunny shook his head. If he thought about Jack too much, he'd get upset and it would cloud his judgement. He wasn't about to blindly follow a scent. It could be a trap. After all, Pitch didn't say there were any rules apart from 'find Jack' so that meant there was nothing to stop Pitch setting some traps in place. Bunny was better than that, he wouldn't just fall into some trap made by someone like Pitch. Bunny would have to think it through, then when he was sure it was Jack, he would follow the scent.

Bunny sniffed the air again. He smelt the pureness of fresh snow, along with the dark smell of nightmare sand. He knew he was surrounded by snow, but Jacks snow smelt different. It had a magical side to it that only a nose like Bunny's could pick up.

The Easter bunny grabbed a hold of the scent and bounded after it. He would follow it to the ends of the earth if he had to. Anything to find Jack.

* * *

"Ouch!" Jack yelled when he hit his head on the ceiling of the tunnel. "Couldn't you have made these tunnels a little bigger?"

Wind had turned into his intangible form and was-literally-breezing through the tunnels. Luna was short, so she could easily crawl through the space, but Jack was so lanky that he had to duck his head, even when he was crouched down. Bunny was bouncing along ahead of the trio.

"Hey, stop complainin'. I ain't had any trouble with these tunnels before, you lot are just too big." Bunny called back to them in annoyance.

Jack groaned. He was hoping that Bunny might be a little more tolerable in this place, but apparently not.

"When are we gonna get there? If theres one thing I can't afford to waste, its-" Jack was cut of when they came out of an opening. "Time." He finished in a bewildered voice.

The warren was nothing like the one in real life. This one was covered in snow, icicles, the works. It was Jack's paradise.

"Why is there snow in your warren, ?" Luna asked politely. She knew if there was one thing rabbits hate more than anything, it was the cold.

"It's Bunnymund, sheila. And there is snow in my warren because I love it."

"What!? The real Bunny hates snow!" Jack exclaimed, looking around the warren. It was beautiful. It looked just like...Burgess.

"The real Bunny? What'cha goin' on about, mate?"

Jack received a glare from Luna and clamped a hand over his mouth. "I-I mean, the other rabbits that I've seen. Um... they didn't like snow."

Bunny raised an eyebrow, but shrugged and carried on walking-or hopping.

"Why aren't I allowed to tell him he's not real?" Jack whispered in Luna's ear.

"Are you an idiot? How do you think you would feel if somebody told you that you were not real?" Luna whispered back.

Jack's heart lurched. He realised he probably wouldn't feel great if somebody questioned his existence. He shrugged it off and pasted a smile on his face.

Ever since the nightmare sand had taken him over, he'd been feeling more and more pessimistic.

Luna appeared to notice this, since she frowned and said, "Jack, are you feeling okay?"

Jack's eyes flashed gold. "Of course I am. Will you just leave me alone?" Jack said in an annoyed tone of voice.

Luna was alarmed by Jack's eyes. "You _have_ to tell me if you start to feel worse again. I can't let the nightmare sand fully engulf your subconscious, you will die from it." _Or worse_. Luna thought. She felt bad for keeping this particular piece of information to herself. See, if a spirit's soul is surrounded by evil, it will become evil itself. This could happen to Jack if he stayed in his condition for much longer. This was also how Pitch was created.

Pitch used to be a loving man with a family and a home. Unfortunately, one day, a terrible fate was bestowed upon the household, and his home was burnt down, with his family inside. Pitch went out to get revenge, but when he killed the man who had murdered his family, he became no better than the man. Somewhere along the line, Pitch lost his sanity and stopped at nothing to bring misery to everyone he met. The man in the moon brought him back as a spirit so he could punish Pitch. So Pitch would be forever alone. But Pitch fought back, he created a means of bringing misery to people once again, and so he became the boogieman.

Luna definitely din't want Jack to end up like that, but it seemed he was going the same way as Pitch. It wouldn't be completely far fetched for Jack to lose his sanity in a place like this. Not many people would be able to wrap their minds around being submersed in their own subconscious.

"Jack?" Luna repeated.

"What?" His voice sounded ice-cold and unforgiving.

"Stop acting like that!" Luna scolded, cuffing him around the ear.

Jack looked angry for a minute, before frowning and shaking his head. "Sorry, Lu." Jack said. Luna's heart skipped when she heard him shorten her name. It was a minor thing, but it was one big leap for Jack. He didn't necessarily show it, but he had absolutely no social skills. "I guess this nightmare sand is messing with my head."

"Thats okay." She smiled.

They were interrupted by Bunny. "Well, this is as far as I take you." He said, much to the dismay of Jack.

"What? I don't have time for this! Where is the nightmare realm?" Jack demanded angrily.

"I'm not allowed to enter the tunnels leading to the nightmare realm. You have to go alone I'm afraid." Bunny said apologetically. He hopped along to an dark, icy tunnel. "You'll need to head down there to get to the realm." He said, stroking his mustache. "Beyond that tunnel, it's all new territory, so I can't really help you in that department."

Jack frowned, but felt the nightmare sand slip through the veins of his right hand. He saw the veins stain a black color. "We need to go. I don't care where, we just need to get to that realm as soon as I can." Jack said steadily, holding up his hand for Luna.

She nodded grimly.

"Wind?" Jack requested, and wind turned back into his humanoid form.

"At your service." He replied with an American style salute.

"You can stay here. I don't want you to get hurt because of me." Jack said sadly, placing a hand on winds shoulder.

"I'm coming Jack. You know you can't stop me." Wind grinned and turned intangible again.

Jack nodded and turned back to Luna. "Let's go."

And with one last goodbye to Bunny, they walked down the tunnel, towards the nightmare realm.

* * *

"Oooh, it's chilly in here." Wind said, standing between Luna and Jack.

"You are the embodiment of the wind. You cannot possibly be cold." Luna rolled her eyes.

"We're lost." Jack announced. "I have no idea where we are, and I'm really tired."

"Me too. My legs ache so bad!" Wind complained.

"Your legs cannot hurt. The wind is not even meant to have legs!" Luna protested, pushing wind playfully.

"Luna, we need to keep going." Jack demanded, already turning into the next tunnel.

"No. We need to rest. We are all tired. If we go to the realm as we are, the nightmares will crush us. Let us sleep here." Luna said, and to make it final, she sat down with a huff.

Jack looked torn, but sat down beside her.

About an hour later, wind was snoring on the floor, completely wiped out, and Luna and Jack were sitting against the tunnel wall chatting.

"Jack. If we don't save you. If you...die...I don't know what I'd do without..." Luna stared sadly at her bare feet.

"I'll make it. Don't worry about me." Jack assured her.

"But..." Luna decided it was time to tell Jack the truth. "You could die. But you could also turn evil if you are overwhelmed by the nightmare sand." She said shamefully.

"What? You never told me this before." He said quietly, shocked by this new revelation.

"I know, and I was going to tell you, but I didn't want you to lose hope." Luna replied, her voice cracking. She looked at Jack with teary eyes. She was generally a pretty spunky girl, but when it came to Jack, her composure fell to pieces. She couldn't help herself.

"Hey, that's okay. I don't mind." Jack said softly, smiling sadly. His eyes brightened with the smile, and Luna saw the hope she loved appear there.

Luna rested her head on Jacks shoulder in relief. But she wasn't done yet. "There's something else."

Jack looked surprised. "What is it?" He asked.

"I'm more than you think I am. You think I am the man in the moon's helper, am I correct?" She asked him, looking right into his azure eyes with complete trust.

"Yes."

"I used to be a human too. The reason I am able to navigate your memories so easily is because I am a part of them. I am what used to be Isabelle Melrose, your lover from your memories." Luna said, kneeling in front of Jack and grabbing his hands.

Jack's eyes widened in shock.

"Please don't be angry. I didn't know who I was until I saw that memory with Isabelle. I don't remember you, Jack." She said, bursting into tears. "I forgot you Jack! How could I do that? I don't remember even one of the days we spent together back then..." She whispered to herself.

Jack pulled her into his arms and let her lay down. Her head rested on his chest, and he stoked her hair in comfort.

"I knew."

"What?" Luna asked, bewildered.

"I recognised you from the past, but I couldn't remember until I experienced that memory again. But when you came for me, I realised you were just to similar to Isabelle for it to be a coincidence." Jack confessed.

Luna turned and faced Jack. "But I only know Jack Frost. I cannot remember Jackson Overland. I'm sorry." She whispered, tears poring down her cheeks.

"I don't care for what you used to be. I don't care for Isabelle Melrose. I care for you, Luna. I don't care what you were in the past. I care for what you are now." Jack replied softly, tucking Luna's blonde hair behind her ear and trying to wipe away some of her tears.

"And I care for Jack Frost." She said, smiling through her tears.

"That is all I ask of you." Jack smiled back, and found his face very close to hers. Jack saw Luna, not Isabelle Melrose, and Luna saw Jack, not Jackson Overland.

Jack closed his eyes and let his forehead rest against hers. "When we get out of this, what will happen to you?"

Luna felt scared. "I truly do not know." She admitted sadly.

"Then lets make this count." Jack whispered.

Before Luna could protest, Jack was kissing her. She felt her heart beat speed up until she thought it couldn't go any faster. Jack smiled through the kiss. He could feel Luna's nervousness. Jack put a hand on her face in comfort and felt her relax. If he was going to die, he wanted to show Luna what she meant to him before he did. He felt the nightmare sand rise in his blood again, but he foolishly ignored it. He wanted to make the moment last just a second longer.

* * *

Bunny had picked up Jack's scent and followed it to a glacier. He rolled his eyes. _Trust his body to be in the coldest place on earth. And the hardest to get to._ He thought as he tried to maneuver himself into the slim crack in the ice. He heard the ice crack within. He really hoped this whole glacier wouldn't come down on him.

He continued into the cavern, trying to find some even ground. He really didn't want Pitch to be here either. That would mean trouble for him _and _Jack. Bunny's ears twitched. Something wasn't right here. The ice crackled behind him and he jumped around to investigate.

He didn't see anything, and he turned back to his original path, following Jack's scent. A few grains of nightmare sand scattered across the floor behind him and started to form into a nightmare. Looks like there would be a fight here after all.

* * *

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed, you guys are all amazing. Thanks for all the ideas and every thing, that really helped me a lot :) If you have any ideas for me, please leave them for me by dropping a review :D **

**Thank you to Celebi2gen for your continued support. If your reading this, go check out their fic, it's really good! **

**Also, thanks to hanazaki462anime, who's idea I used, and it kinda became most of this chapter, so thank you so much, you should thank them for this chapter :D **

**Sorry for anyone I haven't mentioned, but I thought you'd rather have a chapter than me list you names as a thanks. :D Hope you enjoyed! **

**Saff x **


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter ten: There's trouble ahead!

**Hey guys! Heh, took me a while to update... please don't kill me... But hey, here it is! I'm sure you don't want to listen to my boring excuses, so enjoy the story, and as usual, review. Now that I've reached my forty review gaol, I want to get to fifty, so review like crazy! Enjoy!**

* * *

"What is going on here!?"

Jack nearly had a heart attack. He had been peacefully sleeping, having a great dream, when all of a sudden a voice had woken him up. He groaned and opened his eyes, coming face to face with wind.

"What's up?" Jack asked casually.

Wind snorted indignantly. "What's up!? I'll tell you what's up! You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Huh?" Jack turned to where wind was pointing and saw Luna sleeping right next to him, her arms around him. "Uhh. I can explain!"

Wind help up a hand. "No, you can't just... While I was asleep!"

Jacks eyes widened when he caught wind of what wind was saying. (A/N haha, that was unintentional)

"N-no! It was nothing like that!" Jacks face flushed purple.

Luna stirred next to him. "Good morning Jack, wind." She nodded at wind and smiled.

Jack raised an eyebrow at wind. "Let's carry this conversation on later. Now, we have to get to the nightmare realm." Jack hopped up, helping up Luna. "This way then." Jack walked down the tunnel on his way, eager to get to the realm.

"Uhh Jack. It's this way." Wind said, turning in the opposite direction and walking down that tunnel.

Luna looked from Jack to wind and sighed. She was amazed these two managed to stick out three hundred years together.

"It's this way, you dolts." Luna said, heading down a completely different tunnel.

Jack shook his head. "I'm pretty sure it's this way."

Luna turned and gave him the coldest glare she could muster, one that could compete with the winter spirit. She let her eyes flash a fluorescent yellow as a warning.

Jacks eyes widened and he hurriedly ran after Luna. "On second thoughts, maybe Luna is right."

Wind just shrugged and followed behind Jack.

After a long hour of mindless wandering, Jack and company found a change in scenery. Nightmare sand started to weave into the ice that covered the tunnels, and the tunnels themselves became bigger and darker. However, there was a fork in the tunnels. Both looked exactly the same, but lead in opposite directions.

"Which way?" Wind asked no one in particular.

"This way." Jack said, not waiting for a reply. He started walking down the tunnel.

"How do you know that?" Wind raised an eyebrow, flying to catch up with Jack.

"I don't know. I can just feel it...like I'm being pulled towards this tunnel." He said in a bewildered voice, while gesturing to the tunnel.

Luna frowned in concern. It was the nightmare sand in his blood that was drawing him towards the right way. She didn't want to tell him in case he freaked out.

"Yeah... It's probably nothing. It is your subconscious, after all." She assured him, taking his hand and walking next to him. He was cold, but she put up with it.

"What the hell is that!?" Jack heard wind yell in terror.

He whirled around to see several giant nightmares rearing at wind.

"Wind!" Jack shouted in vein. The nightmare brought its hooves down, right onto wind's head. The last thing Jack heard was his scream.

"No!" Jack cried, surging forward and bringing his staff down on the creature. It froze over and dissipated. It's two companions neighed in rage, charging at Jack. He got ready to fight, holding his staff out in front of him. One nightmare met his staff, kicking it away with the momentum from its sheer size. The other nightmare sunk into the shadows and reappeared behind Jack. The nightmare reformed into a shadowy figure and put a finger on Luna's shoulder. She and the figure disappeared in a dark purple flash.

Jack was in despair, completely terrified and the odds were stacked against him.

"Hey, big and ugly!" He shouted, pasting a mischievous grin on his face. "Your buddy just took my friend. Now I'm angry, and guess who I'm gonna take it out on?"

The nightmare cocked its head in confusion.

"You! Man, your big, ugly AND stupid." Jack laughed and sent an array of icicles at the nightmare, pinning it to the wall.

It whinnied indignantly, trying to escape.

"Now, I think I'll play pin the ice on the nightmare until you tell me where my friends are." Jack said coldly, an evil gold infecting his irises as the nightmare sand took him over.

He threw a sharp icicle right at the nightmares head. It stuck in the wall above its ears.

"The next one will be between the eyes. Tell me where they are." Jack said in a steely calm voice, while he held his temples as a headache crept up on him.

The nightmare neighed in rage and dissipated into a shadow. It reformed into a figure and sent some sand at Jack, just as he was taken over by the sand in his blood.

The sand hit Jack and teleported him to where Luna had been taken. He fell into a small, dark room. He gripped his head as the sand struggled to control him.

"Jack?" He heard Luna call uncertainly. He saw the darkness of unconsciousness eat around the edges of his vision.

No! He wasn't about to give up this easily. Wind was dead, but Luna was alive, and he needed to protect her. And losing his consciousness to become a mindless fighting machine. He was going to fight against the sand. He wouldn't be taken over that easily.

"Jack? Are you okay?" Luna asked again.

Jack closed his eyes and concentrated on her voice. He fought against the nightmare sand in his blood and pushed it down. After struggling internally for a minute, the darkness receded and he regained his sight. He saw Luna next to him, looking worriedly at someone beside her. He looked around and saw wind staring at him.

Jacks eyes widened. "Wind, you're okay!" He cried, pulling wind in for a (man) hug.

"Okay, easy on the squeezy man. Your crushing me!" Wind laughed. Jack withdrew and turned to Luna, who still looked worried.

Jack frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Jack, your eyes..." She said quietly.

"What about them?"

"They're still gold. You're controlling the sand."

Jack frowned. Controlling the sand? Was she saying that he was controlling the sand inside his blood?

"Can you draw it out?" Luna asked.

Jack frowned and concentrated on taking the sand out of his blood. He managed to produce a small pile of sand, which fazed through his hand and swirled on top of his palm.

"You cannot draw it all out. The sand to blood ratio is too high. We must defeat the nightmares still. Can you tell where the nightmares all are?" Luna asked.

Jack closed his eyes and felt something. "They are not far away. There are some guarding this room, but the most if them are congregating quite far away."

"Can you tell how many there are?" Luna said, expecting the worst.

"Hard to tell, but there are quite a few. We'd need a plan to take out so many." Jack said uneasily.

Luna nodded and turned to wind. "Can you find a way out while me and Jack think of a plan?"

Wind Huffed but agreed, walking over to the other side of the cell. He placed a hand against the wall, and listened for any sign of life outside. He heard a nightmare whinny Through the wall. He started to tap the wall to find a weak spot and he found one near the door.

Meanwhile Jack and Luna were deep in conversation, discussing plans for when they took on the nightmares. So far, they were to enter the building and come from opposite directions, flanking the nightmares and taking them by surprise. Then Jack was to use his staff to freeze half the nightmares, while Luna used her powers to defeat the other half. Wind wasn't the combat type, so he would be causing a distraction. Then, once they had defeated the nightmares, Jack would be able to leave his subconscious.

Honestly, Luna was worried about what would happen to her once Jack had left. Would she be able to come with him, or would she get sent back to the moon? Luna took a deep breath. There was no point worrying about something that might not even happen.

"Here!" Wind suddenly shouted. He turned into a hurricane and threw himself at the weak spot in the wall. The thin wall caved, and the wall fell forward, leaving a small hole in the wall.

Jack looked up, his nightmare sand dancing around his hand. A nightmare poked its head through the hole in the wall, and Jack launched the sand at it. The two sands mixed, but Jack's sand acted like poison. It ate away at the nightmare in until it crumbled and fell to the floor.

"Well, that was affective." Jack stated, raising an eyebrow.

Wind turned back and climbed through the hole, before helping Luna though to. Jack stepped out.

He closed his eyes and pinpointed the nightmares location.

"This way." He said, running down a maze like corridor. He could see a dark sky above him, but he was surrounded by walls. The room they had been trapped in had been the centre of the maze.

* * *

Quite a while later, Jack and company hasn't made any progress. Even with Jack knowing where the nightmares were, they kept hitting dead ends. Finally, they gave up and rested against a wall.

"Wait! Idea!" Wind piped up suddenly.

"What is it?" Luna asked curiously.

"We can just fly over the top of the maze."

Jack laughed. "Duh. Why didn't I think of that?"

"C'mon then. Everybody buckle up!" Wind exclaimed.

Luna looked very worried.

"It's fine, just hold onto my staff, and I won't let you fall." Jack reassured, taking her hand and placing it on his staff. "Hold on tight." He added with a mischievous grin.

Luna should have been reassured, but there was something about those gold eyes that made the current Jack pretty hard to trust.

Wind picked up Jack and Luna and flew them above the walls. They saw a black swirling mass in the distance. It looked like a nightmare storm, like the one Pitch had conjured, just before Jack had died.

"What would you say if I told you that's where we need to go?" Jack asked sheepishly.

Luna rolled her eyes. "I'd say, if we must, but you owe me one." Luna tried to adopt Jacks American accent, but it didn't quite work. It did, however, leave wind in metaphorical stitches.

They neared the nightmare storm. Jack raised his staff, ready to launch an air attack on a nightmare just outside the storm. He jumped down from the sky and landed on the nightmare, nailing it on the head with his staff. It wavered a little, before falling to the ground.

"Let's keep moving. The rest are this way." Jack said, just as Luna landed next to him. Wind turned back into a boy and smiled.

"Let's go kick some evil butt!" He said happily, leaning against Luna.

"Get off me, peasant." She deadpanned, pushing him away.

"Okay, so you're not the touchy feely type. I get it, no worries." He said, trying to sound casual.

"I wasn't worrying." Luna assured sarcastically.

Wind rolled his eyes, but followed Jack.

* * *

Tooth and Norht hadn't heard from Bunny in a worrying amount of time. He had gone of by himself in search of Jack, and now he was missing. North was riding the sleigh to antarctica, while Tooth and Babytooth sat in the back. Tooth looked out over the snowy plains and sighed. _We need you more than ever, Sanderson._ Tooth thought to herself. She missed Sandy so much, but Jack could be saved. Sandy would have been glad they were helping Jack rather than mourning his death.

"Tooth, we are here. Let's get Bunny." North said, climbing out of the sleigh. Tooth fluttered after him, with Babytooth bringing up the rear.

Tooth flew into a small cave, that gave way to a rather large chamber caused by a glacier. North had had to stand outside, since he couldn't fit through the gap into the cave. Tooth looked at the ground. There were paw marks in the snow, showing that Bunny had been there recently. Tooth's heart lifted, until she saw hoof marks mixed in with his. The nightmares had been here too.

She heard a tweet behind her, and turned. Babytooth was pointing at a pile of nightmare sand. Tooth winced. She had hoped there wouldn't be a battle with Pitch, but it seemed inevitable. She had to help Bunny.

"Babytooth, I need you to tell North I'm going in further to find Bunny. Also, tell him Pitch was here." Tooth informed her most trusted fairy, stroking her plume of feathers.

The small fairy tweeted an affirmative, saluting, before darting out of the cave.

Tooth took a deep, steadying breath, and walked further into the glacier cavern. She really hoped Bunny would be okay.

Tooth found another opening in the cave, where there looked to have been a fight, but there was still no sign of Bunny. Tooth brushed her fingers across the nightmare sand. It reminded her of Sandy.

She sighed and carried on deeper into the cave, where she heard a distinctly Aussie accent echo around the cave.

"Bloody 'ell! How many of these guys are there?" He cursed.

Tooth smiled and ran into the cave.

"Bunny!" She yelled happily.

Bunny turned, and his eyebrows rose in surprise. "What are you doing here, Tooth?" He asked.

"You went missing! I had to find you! Thank Manny your okay." Tooth exclaimed happily.

"Yeah, only just. Hey, ya mind helping me get ridda these guys? They've been comin' non stop for hours!"

Tooth nodded and made herself useful, whipping out a small dagger and slicing through a nightmare. "Do you know where Jack is?" She asked.

"He's definitely in this place, I just don't know where." Bunny admitted.

"Well, once we've got these nightmares, we can search for him together." She said, a smile on her face.

"Yeah. That sounds good to me." Bunny replied, slicing though another nightmare.

* * *

"Wow. That's a lot of nightmares." Wind commented, though it wasn't really needed. Even a blind man could tell there was a colossal nightmare army right in front of them.

"Look, we can do this. We just need to stick it out, and work together. These guys are pretty weak, so all we need to do is slash through them, and they're dead." Jack said confidently.

Luna nodded. "We certainly have our work cut out for us. But if this is the only way to save Jack, I'm willing to do this."

"Me too." Wind agreed.

"Well, shall we?" Jack asked, holding up his staff and walking towards the nightmares.

"Yeah!" Wind yelled, pumped as ever. "This'll be a breeze. Get it? Breeze because i'm the-" He stopped when he got a glare from both Luna and Jack. "Okay, okay. Just trying to lighten the mood, jeez."

Jack smiled at wind's antics, and held up his staff, slamming it on the ground, and freezing over the first few nightmares. The whole army finally noticed the trio, and charged at them. This would be a long fight.

* * *

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed, they all really helped with this chapter! I hope you like wind, I've really enjoyed developing his character, and he's really fun to write about. **

**Anyho ~ I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and drop a review if you want me to change something, or give me some ideas. (I know, i'm constantly asking for ideas, but they're really fascinating to read!) **

**Saff x **


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter eleven: Jack is waking

**Hello! It seems my story is drawing to an end :( Well, enjoy this chapter and be sure to review!**

* * *

Jack took a deep breath, before running at the charging nightmares and meeting them in the middle. He slashed his staff through nightmare after nightmare, fighting so smoothly that it looked like a well practiced dance routine.

Luna seemed just as good at fighting. She had conjured two glowing gold daggers with her moon powers, and was using them to good effect on the nightmares.

Jack and Luna combined were putting down a good number of nightmares, but it wasn't enough. Wind could only blow away the nightmare sand before they reformed, since he wasn't a great fighter, but he saw the extent of the army, he turned tangible and readied himself. He held up his hands and forced the wind at the nightmares, knocking them of their feet. Jack sent ice at them and froze them to the ground.

"Thanks man." Wind said gratefully, before flying up and knocking over some more nightmares.

Soon enough, wind had a mini hurricane going, tearing nightmares apart with its sheer force.

"Jack, we aren't going to last like this! Any ideas, and I would love to hear them." Luna shouted over the noise of the hurricane.

Jack fought back more of the sand, making his way to Luna. "I could freeze all of these nightmares, but I don't have enough power right now." Jack said, despair creeping into his voice as more nightmares charged at the pair.

Luna frowned. She had an idea, but was it even possible? Could two spirits combine their powers?

"Jack!? I think I've got it." Luna beckoned for him to come closer. She placed a hand on his staff. "I'm going to give you some of my power, so put all you've got into this."

Jack looked startled, but nodded and frowned in concentration. He summoned his powers from the very fibre of his being, sending them into his staff. Luna gasped. She was nearly blown away with the power that he had conjured, but fought back the freezing energy with her own. The blue and yellow energy swirled around the staff, before combining and making a turquoise colored light. Luna was having trouble not being vaporised, but Jack was standing like nothing was happening.

"Release it Jack! Now!" She yelled in a strained voice.

Jack jumped and let the turquoise energy go. It spread across the battlefield, freezing over everything in its way.

Jack grinned when the light faded, and all that was left was a mass of frozen nightmares. He released a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding, and relaxed. He felt incredibly woozy from all the power he had used, but the adrenaline from the battle was keeping him standing.

Luna, however, was not doing as well as Jack. Jack was too busy taking in the mass of damage he and Luna had just caused, but Luna was falling unconscious.

"Jack..." She said quietly. He noticed her, and caught her before she could fall. He laid her gently on the ground.

"Luna, are you-?" He managed, before she shushed him sleepily.

"Jack...you're stronger than me..." She stammered, smiling as she closed her eyes.

Jack sighed and got up, meeting wind just as he landed.

"Woo!" Wind yelled, fist pumping and jumping at the same time. "That was awesome, Jack. We need to do that more often!"

"No, we don't. Now come on. We can leave Luna here, but we have to find the place where all this sand is coming from and destroy it." Jack said sternly, moving towards the nightmares.

The ice over the nightmares started to shudder and creak.

"No. No no no no no!" Jack's eyes widened in fear as the ice over all the nightmares cracked, and each one rose up. The entire army reformed, snorting and pawing the ground, ready to charge again.

* * *

Tooth had finished off the last nightmare triumphantly, sheathing her dagger and walking over to Bunny.

"Let's go find Jack." He said. Bunny, made his way around the fallen nightmares, to the crack that lead deeper into the glacier.

Tooth nodded, squeezing through the gap after Bunny. They cam out into a big chamber. Tooth gasped. It was beautiful. The ice was thin near the roof, so it let the sunlight stream in, the ice staining the light a pure blue color. In the middle of the room was a platform of ice, and on the ice, Jack's body lay. All around him, snowdrops made of ice sprouted from the freezing ground. A lone real snowdrop laid by the foot of the platform, and three blue candles were placed by it. One for each century. Jack had received their gifts.

Tooth seemed frozen. She stood, rooted to the spot, silent tears pouring down her cheeks.

Bunny was slightly better composed from seeing the youngest guardians dead body. A dim blue light surrounded Jack, and the cut from the scythe had mysteriously healed. Bunny stared at the body for so long, it seemed like Jack's foot twitched, but that couldn't be right. Then his toes suddenly flexed.

"Tooth! He just moved!" Bunny exclaimed.

"I saw it too!"

Tooth and Bunny approached the body hesitantly. The blue glow deepened.

They saw his face, cold and pale, his lips blue. Suddenly, he frowned.

Bunny and Tooth gasped, Tooth rushing forward and putting her hand on his face. A small whimper came from his throat and Tooth ran her hands through his hair.

"Shhh. Sweet tooth, it's going to be okay. Please wake up." Tooth said softly, her voice cracking from her tears.

Jack didn't wake up, he just kept tossing and turning as if he was having a bad dream. And if Tooth and Bunny had seen the nightmare sand floating around him, they'd know he was.

Tooth placed a hand on Jack's forehead and suddenly her vision went dark. It cleared, and she saw Jack and wind, standing in front of a mass of nightmares in a dark land. above them was a swirling storm. Jack was spreading out his arms to protect a collapsed girl behind him. The girl had blonde hair. She recognised her as the girl that had saved them from Pitch and told her about Jack's true whereabouts.

She removed her hand, and her vision came back. She blinked and looked up at Bunny with a worried expression.

"He's in there. I saw him. He's up against thousands of nightmares, there no way...We have to help him!" She exclaimed tearily.

Bunny frowned. "How?"

Babytooth tweeted sadly and land on Jack's hair. She walked over to his forehead and rapped a knuckle on it, as if trying to wake him up. She sighed. Suddenly, a blue light flashed around her, and she was sucked into his forehead. Or that's how it seemed. In reality, she was sucked into Jack's subconscious.

She was dropped into the scene rather unceremoniously, tumbling onto the dusty ground. She saw Jack and wind a couple of yards away. She squeaked happily and flew over to Jack. She landed on his shoulder and tweeted in his ear for his attention.

Jack turned and gasped. "Babytooth? Are you really here or are you another one of those...things?" He asked.

Babytooth looked insulted and whacked him on his ear, pointing over to a swirling blue portal that she had came through. She hoped her mother had taken her lead.

Luckily, it seemed Tooth had. Both her and Bunny tumbled through the portal and got up, before running towards Jack.

"Bunny! Its good to see you in full size again." Jack exclaimed.

Bunny looked confused, but hugged Jack. "It's good to see you too, mate." He said softly.

When Jack withdrew, he was ambushed by Tooth.

"Oh sweet tooth, we missed you so much!" Tooth squeezed him tightly in her arms.

"Uh, Tooth. I'm really glad to see you guys too, but we have a problem." Jack said hurriedly, pulling away and turning to the nightmares.

There must have been around a thousand or so, all ready to attack. They had been temporarily distracted by the blue portal, but now they had new tasty looking enemies to defeat. The first row reared and charged at the group.

"Tooth, take Luna away from here. Me and Bunny will hold the nightmares back. Babytooth and wind can distract the nightmares that try to go after Tooth." Jack commanded.

Bunny nodded and ran into the charging nightmares, while babytooth and wind held back the nightmares from the sides. Jack plowed into the nightmares, after Bunny.

They both reduced nightmares to dust in seconds, fighting as a team. Jack was glad Bunny and Tooth had come when they did, or he'd be dead. For the second time.

One nightmare came at Jack so suddenly, he dropped his staff before he could land a blow. Bunny was about to come and help, but Jack formed a sword made of ice and sliced through it.

"Mate, I'm impressed. You've improved since I last saw you." Bunny said, before turning and scattering about ten nightmares with his boomerangs.

"Oh, but I'm no better than you, the master of the ancient arts of course." Jack assured him, a challenging glint in his eye. "Though it seems you've gotten a little rusty."

Bunny frowned, accepting Jack's challenge. "Oh you wait and see who's rusty here, mate." He said, launching himself at a group of nightmares.

Jack grinned and picked up his staff, dueling with the ice-sword and staff. He sliced through a whole line of nightmares, before sending ice at the other nightmares.

Bunny, however, only had half his attention on the battle. This seemed too easy. Way too easy.

* * *

"Hello, North." A voice purred, laced with an evil tone.

North spun as fast as his large belly would let him. As he suspected, Pitch stood, flanked by two nightmares.

"You leave Jack alone. He never did anything to you." North said, frowning. He stood in front of the entrance to the glacier.

"So Jack _is_ in you, friend. And I suppose what remains of the pathetic guardians are in there too. What a challenge _that_ should be." Pitch said, sarcasm dripping from his words.

"You go through me first." North said sternly, holding his ground.

Pitch hissed through his teeth in frustration. "Okay. Well, it's not my fault if you end up dead."

North didn't seem stalled by this at all, and drew his dual swords. Pitch smirked and sent his nightmares at North before fading into the shadows. He reappeared behind North, and slunk into the glacier.

North realised that Pitch had tricked him too late, and only caught a glance at Pitch getting into the cave. North tried to go after him, but he couldn't fit through the door.

North sighed, just hoping that Bunny and Tooth could stop Pitch from getting to Jack. Unfortunately for him, North didn't know that Jack was unguarded since Bunny and Tooth were both preoccupied with the nightmare sand in Jack's subconscious.

Pitch tutted as he saw the fallen nightmares. He closed his eyes and sensed nightmare sand further in the glacier. _That must be Jack,_ He thought.

Pitch advanced further into the cavern, until he came out into a bright room, where Jack's body lay in the centre. Pitch grinned evilly, conjuring nightmare sand in the palm of his hand, which he then formed into a dagger. Inching closer to Jack, he raised the dagger.

He brought the weapon down, the tip of it's blade above Jack's heart. The blade got about a centimeter away from Jack's skin, before it was blocked.

Pitch looked down in surprise. He saw a small shield made of nightmare sand floating above Jack's heart.

But why..._ If you kill the host, the sand dies with it. It doesn't want to die._ Pitch realised, trying to break through the sand.

"I control you! Why won't you listen to me!?" Pitch yelled in frustration. No matter.

He would just have to kill Jack when he was awake...

* * *

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed and gave me advice, it was really helpful! I'm quite sad that this story is drawing to an end. I hope everyone enjoyed this, and I'll see you in the next chapter :D**


	13. Chapter 13

**Heh... Sorry for the wait... I was on holiday and I forgot to post a chapter before I went. Here's the chapter I meant to post, it's super short and confusing but... Pfft, it's a chapter, right? Now read and don't forget to review!**

* * *

A nightmare pushed Bunny to the ground and snapped its mouth within inches of his face. He wrestled it off, slicing through the nightmare. Another mare neighed in fury, rushing forward and pounding its heavy hooves against Bunny's stomach. The air was knocked from him, and he stumbled back into Tooth.

Jack threw back his head and laughed, an awful, unhinged sound that echoed in Bunny's ears.

"Mate, are you okay?" He asked haltingly, really not wanting to know the answer as Jack turned to face him, his irises swirling with a golden light.

"Okay? I'm better than ever." He said sarcastically, the voice sounding not at all like Jack, and slightly otherworldly. He raised his hand, showing Bunny the nightmare sand that writhed in his palm. Jack smiled at Bunny's wide eyed reaction, before he lifted his palm to his mouth and blew the sand at Bunny. Before the sand could hit the ground, it formed into a giant nightmare with pulsing blue eyes. The mare let loose an almighty screech that made Bunny's sensitive ears ring in protest, before launching itself at him. He rolled to the side, dragging Tooth who was carrying Luna with him. The nightmares hooves ploughed into the ground where they had just been, leaving a small hoof-shaped crater.

"Jack! What is that thing!?" Bunny yelled over the nightmares loud whinnies.

"Oh, sorry Bunny." Jack pouted with fake sympathy. "Jack isn't here right now. Would you like to leave a message?"

"Are you controlling it?" Bunny demanded, disregarding Jack's last statement.

The boy smirked, a malicious light dancing in his eyes as he watched the carnage he was creating unfold. "Who else? You are in his subconscious, so why wouldn't he be able to control it?"

Bunny wondered why Jack was referring to himself in third person, but shook the thought from his head. If he didn't concentrate, this beast of a nightmare was going to crush him!

He threw his boomerang at it, the projectile bouncing harmlessly from its head. He growled in annoyance, looking over at Tooth. "You take the girl away from here." He cracked his knuckles. "I'm gonna straighten out the kid."

Tooth gulped as she worried about what Bunny meant by 'straighten out' but picked up Luna and ran from the battlefield.

Bunny fought viciously, knocking back the humongous creature on more than one occasion, but never landing a blow on it. All the while, the normal nightmares continued to come at him, charging him mercilessly. He was slowly being overpowered by them. He launched an egg bomb at the creatures head, blowing a hole beneath its eye. Jack frowned. The nightmare was being defeated too easily. He decided it was time for him to get involved, securing his grasp on his staff and making his was towards Tooth and Luna. He tried to fly, but wind denied his command, instead pushing him to the ground. Jack gasped as his head hit the hard ground with a sickening crack. He groaned, helping himself up. Wind materialised in front of him, his slightly transparent face completely serious.

"Stop." wind said simply, standing boldly in front of Jack.

"Are you going to stop me, hm? How can a weak entity such as yourself even attempt to achieve such a feat?" Jack scowled, the gold in his eyes deepening.

"I-I'm gonna...I don't know yet." He said, defeated.

Jack smirked. "Perhaps I should spare your life. You are harmless, after all."

"I am not harmless!" He argued, summoning a small hurricane.

"Oh no, not a hurricane, what ever shall I do?" Jack backed away with fake fear, but the disturbing smirk stayed pasted on his face.

Wind manipulated the twister to yank the staff from Jack's hands, catching it as it came to him.

Jack looked shocked for a second, before his shock was replaced with anger. His face contorted in fury as he whirled on wind, nightmare sand swirling around his feet.

"You'll regret that!" Jack yelled, drawing back his arm, a nightmare-sand-constructed arrow forming in his hand.

Wind's breath caught in his throat, his hands raising to cover his head in a futile attempt to protect himself.

"JACK!" Luna yelled at the top of her voice.

Jack's eyes widened, and he shakily returned his hands to his sides. The gold in his eyes faltered, flickering to blue before returning to gold.

Luna had woken just moments, before rushing to wind's aid.

"Jack, you know this isn't you!" She ran up to where he was standing, looking at him and her yellow eyes were full of concern. She didn't want Jack to stay like this permanently. She needed to get rid of the sand now!

Jack smiled. "No, Jack does know this isn't him. Maybe it's better for him."

Luna stared Jack down, her yellow eyes boring into his gold ones. "Get out of him. I want Jack back." She demanded.

"I don't think I will. Do you have any idea of the power I wield in this form?"

"If you don't leave him willingly, I'll just have to force you." She threatened, a yellow ray of energy lighting up her hand.

"Oh, but you wouldn't hurt poor Jackson, would you?"

She didn't answer, but placed her hand on his chest. The yellow energy seeped into his chest, and his aura lit with a yellow glow.

"Oh please." He laughed, fighting back the energy with sand.

Luna looked on in horror as her power was easily banished from Jack's body.

He closed his eyes, summoning more sand. He moulded it into an arrow and aimed it at Luna, waiting until last minute until he released it. Jack jumped back as a boomerang flew past, knocking the arrow from its course.

"Finally awake, Sheila?" Bunny asked sarcastically, running up to meet her.

"Jack's in trouble." She said seriously, a concerned look passing her face. "That isn't him in control right now."

Jack roared in rage, launching more nightmares at them. Bunny easily fought them back, before throwing his boomerang at Jack. It hit him in the stomach, winding him temporarily.

"I need you to distract him." Luna said quietly so Jack didn't hear. Bunny nodded in confirmation.

Luna watched as Bunny rushed to Jack, and threw an egg bomb at him. He threw it slightly off target, so it only blew him back a few steps. Still, it took him a while to recover. By that time, Luna was behind him, holding one of Bunny's boomerangs. She raised it above Jack's head, slamming it down on the back. He yelped in pain and crumpled to the floor.

"Sorry Jack. It was the only way," She apologised, beckoning to wind to come over. He complied, placing the staff in Jack's limp hands before picking him up and flying over to Tooth and placing him down.

Luna looked around. She couldn't see a nightmare in sight. So where were they?

"In Jack." She mused out loud, looking down at his unconscious form.

She let yellow energy seep into the palm of her hand and tried again, putting more power into the spell. Again, Jack's aura lit up, but this time the sand was drawn out. It swirled inside the yellow energy before forming into a black figure.

"That was easier than I thought it would be." She said, turning to the figure.

Jack mumbled incoherently, his eyes snapping open. He scrambled into a standing position, next to Luna.

"We must destroy the sand." She turned to him, touching his staff lightly and urging him forward.

"No. That isn't sand."

"Don't be silly, of course it's sand. It always has been."

"No. The sand was always in my subconscious, but never within my spirit." Jack said confidently, walking to the black figure.

"Well, if it isn't sand, then what is it?"

"It's a part of me."

"A part of you? Okay, that's just being stupid. How can this thing be a part of you?" Luna asked, frowning at him.

"It's my evil intentions, my dark thoughts, my wayward musings all rolled into one." He breathed, touching the figure with the tip of his finger. It deformed and danced around his hand.

"Jack, you're scaring me." Luna said, her voice shaking slightly. Bunny and Tooth looked just as shocked, while wind blew nervously through the valley.

"Don't you understand? We've down it. The nightmare sand in my blood is gone. We can go home now." Jack said emotionlessly, the sand seeping back into his body.

"W-what about when the sand took you over?" Luna asked slowly.

He smirked. "Don't worry about that. The sand is gone. I'm fine now."

"O-okay..." Luna said, slightly unsure of herself.

Jack turned to Bunny and Tooth, smiling widely. "So, how do we get out of this place?" He asked.

Bunny pointed back to the place they had come from. The portal was gone, but the wall where it appeared had a blue marking on it. Jack saw this and nodded, walking to it and placing his hand on it. It lit up and the portal appeared, lighting Jack's face in a bright blue light.

Bunny, wind and Tooth went first, jumping through, before turning back to Jack and Luna. Luna stepped through, holding out a hand for Jack. The portal started to waver, getting smaller until she could only see Jack's face.

"Come on! Hurry!" She shouted through. "Before it closes!"

Jack tried to come through, but he was blocked and pulled back inside. "I'll meet you later!" Jack yelled, before the portal closed completely.

"I wanted the boy, but you'll do." A voice growled behind them.

"Pitch." Bunny glared at the king of nightmares. "Tell me you haven't..." He added, turning to where Jack's body lay. It was surprisingly unharmed.

"No, I haven't. I can't. The sand is protecting him. Observe." He said, bringing his fist down on Jack. Sure enough, nightmares sand formed a shield around Jack's body, stopping Pitch's fist before it could touch Jack.

"Then...there is still sand in his body."

* * *

**Okay, thanks to; **

**celebi2gen for all the reviews, you're brilliant! and hanazaki462anime, your idea was awesome, I hope I worked it in okay. And PeachtreeAmuto, another awesome idea, and a load of guests! Thankyou!**

**and also; **

**2Pcanada, nightmre13 and PippaFrost for the favs and follows!**

**Sorry if i missed anyone out! **

**Saff x**


	14. Chapter 14

**Well then.. Haven't updated this in a while. I'm sorry. I kinda lost passion with it, so the last chapter is sort of rushed, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. I'll carry it on if anyone requests, but other than that, I think this is just about wrapped up.**

* * *

Jack sighed as the portal closed. That was his chance. His chance to escape. At least Luna was safe. He turned back to the sandy figure that was quietly observing him from a distance. He knew Luna wouldn't approve of this, that was why he had sent her back into the real world. Jack was about to purge the evil from himself once and for all. No more dark intentions or voices in his head, telling him that maybe Pitch wasn't so bad. He was going to destroy a part of himself.

Jack watched as the sandy figure distorted, before solidifying into the dark Jack he had met in his corrupted memories. Although he had thought he had lost him in a memory, Jack had felt his presence. He assumed it was the sand at first, but now he knew better. It had been dark Jack who had been taking him over all this time.

"So, shall we get his over with, then?" Jack asked, walking over to the other Jack casually.

"Gladly." He replied, raising his black stained staff.

Jack made the first move, reinforcing his attack with ice as he launched the hook of his staff into dark Jack's stomach. The ice spread across its sweatshirt, and up its arms, making it harder to move. Nevertheless, dark Jack still managed to deliver a hard blow across Jack's face, knocking him backwards and slamming him into the wall.

Jack got straight back up, his mouth set in a grim line as he sent attack after attack at his evil self. He hit it across the face with his fist, and blood made a lazy line down its face, pooling beneath its chin.

The evil Jack sent several ice darts at Jack, and they stuck painfully in his arm. He yanked them out, before throwing them back at it.

Dark Jack got hit in the abdomen, but made no efforts to remove the ice protruding from its stomach.

Jack still showed no mercy as he hit it over the head, effectively knocking it out. Once it slumped to the floor, Jack summoned an dagger made of ice into his hand, and slid it across his dark selves throat.

Dark Jack dissolved into black snowflakes, which soon dissipated, leaving the sky clear.

"That's him. Now it's Pitch's turn." He said grimly, putting his hand on the blue symbol and opening the portal. As soon as he entered the glowing doorway, his vision went black and he slipped out of consciousness.

* * *

Bunny and Tooth stood in front of where Jack's body lay, and blocked Pitch from getting to him.

"Oh please. You think you hold any power over me?" Pitch laughed, summoning several nightmares, which rose from the icy floor and flanked him.

Luna sat beside Jack's body, caressing his snow white hair. "Please wake up. We need you." She whispered in his ear, hoping he'd hear. He remained disturbingly still.

Babytooth cooed sadly, sitting atop Luna's blonde hair.

Suddenly, Jack's eyes fluttered open and turned on Luna. She smiled.

"Hello there."

"Hi. Did I miss the party?"

"Not at all. It's just starting." She muttered darkly, turning to where Pitch stood, threatening Jack's friends.

"Well then. I think it's time the nightmare king lost his crown." Jack murmured, pushing himself from the platform that would have been his deathbed. He held up and hand and his staff was pulled from his subconscious. It returned to the real world in a small flurry of snowflakes, materialising in Jack's hand. He marched right over to Pitch, brushing past Bunny and Tooth, holding his staff in front of him menacingly.

"Ah, Ja-" before the nightmare king could get another word out, he was caught in the gut by Jack's staff. He tumbled backwards, and his nightmares stepped in front of him protectively.

Jack groaned internally. "Not you guys again. I've had it up to here with you stupid horses!" He yelled, freezing both of them solid, before bringing his foot down on one of them and smashing it to pieces.

Pitch pulled himself up, his scythe coming into his hands.

Jack stopped short. The scythe was the thing that ended his life in the first place. If he screwed this up, he doubted he'd get a third chance.

Bunny threw his boomerang, knocking the scythe from Pitches hands.

"You're not alone, mate." He said.

Tooth and Luna soon joined them, all of them facing Pitch in an angry vendetta.

Luna sent two blasts of energy at Pitch, turning the sand he was summoning into dream sand.

"That's never happened before..." She remarked, and watched amazed as the dream sand curled and created intricate patterns, before solidifying into a small figure.

"Sandy!" Jack cried as the sandman donned a cap, before tipping it to the guardians and Luna.

"Sanderson Mansnoozie, I was so worried about you!" Tooth began to scold, but was cut off as Sandy noticed Pitch and summoned his whips.

For the first time, Pitch looked scared.

Jack took point, creating a small snowstorm and sending it at Pitch. The ice caught his clothing and nicked his skin, wearing him down, but Sandy pulled him out of it with his whips, before slamming him into the ground. A yelp of pain escaped Pitch's lips as he was beaten back by the five supernatural beings.

Tooth hit him with one of Bunny's boomerangs, and retreated so Luna could sent her yellow energy blasts at Pitch. They caught him in the face, knocking him against the wall. Bunny held him there, as Sandy tied him up with his sand whips. Luna walked up to him, and secured his hands with her yellow energy, forming handcuffs around his ashen wrists.

"What do we do with him now?" Bunny asked. It was a valid question. The nightmare king sat slumped against the wall, completely knocked out.

"Leave that to me. I'll take him into the Man in the Moon's custody. I'm sure Manny'll know what to do with him." She said.

"But what about you? Will you come back?" Jack asked, knowing that Luna was heading back to the moon.

"Of course I will." But she didn't sound sure.

Jack nodded sadly and hugged her, before she disappeared in a yellow light, Pitch with her.

"I guess it's over then." Jack murmured, as if he couldn't quite believe it.

"I sure hope so. We need to get back to old Nick outside. He's probably freezing his boots off out there." Bunny chuckled, heading out of the cave.

Babytooth nestled herself into Jack's hood and Tooth came and put an arm around him.

"I'm glad to have you back, sweet tooth." She said softly, planting a kiss on his forehead. He blushed a deep purple and grinned.

"If I'm not stuck in my subconscious anymore, does that mean I can go back to annoying Phil at the pole?" He asked, grinning, although his heart wasn't in it. Luna wasn't coming back.

"She's coming back, sweet tooth." Tooth replied wisely, as if she had read his mind. "I saw it in her eyes. She loves you."

Jack smiled happily. "I hope so. With all we went through, I hope she comes back."

(Linebreak)

Two weeks later.

Things had mostly gone back to normal at the pole. It had taken a while to banish every single nightmare from every child's mind, but then again, what would Christmas be without overtime?

It was also the first Christmas Jack had spent with friends. It was great, but he did like to be alone too. He sat on the window seat, looking out over the beautiful plains of snow.

North smiled as he saw the youngest guardian take up his favorite position. He settled into his chair next to the fire and brought his mug of eggnog to his lips, taking a long sip.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light. Luna appeared next to the fire place.

Jack didn't look round, apparently he had not noticed the big flash.

The other guardians were fast asleep.

Luna held her finger to her lips and shushed North, before creeping up behind Jack.

"Boo!" She yelled.  
Jack yelped in surprise and fell from the windowsill, landing in an awkward, gangly limbed pile.

"What was that for!?" He demanded grumpily.

"Merry Christmas!" She said happily, helping him onto his feet. "I missed you."

"Me too. But why have you come back now?"

"Ah...it took a while to persuade old Moony to let me come down here. I kinda failed my mission to keep you alive so he wasn't really happy with me."

"You didn't fail." Jack frowned.

"But not all of you made it out. I know you destroyed a part of yourself Jack. But I'm not angry with you. It was your choice." She assured him, smiling. "But lets not linger on such sad things. Its Christmas!"

"Well...I didn't get you anything..."

"Neither did I." She admitted. "But this is enough." She said, putting her arms around him and watching the snow fall outside.

* * *

**And there is the end of my first ever fanfiction! Woo I actually finished something! Go me!**

**Saff x **


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